News & Insights

Cyber Warfare at Sea: Why Maritime Can’t Afford to Look Away

The oceans may be vast, but in today’s world, they are not immune to invisible threats. Cyber warfare is rapidly emerging as one of the greatest risks facing the maritime industry. From GPS spoofing that diverts vessels, to ransomware disabling port operations, the potential for disruption extends across supply chains, energy security, and even national resilience.

Unlike traditional risks at sea, cyber incidents rarely leave a visible wake — until it’s too late. The challenge for shipowners, operators, and offshore asset managers is not only to defend against attacks, but also to understand how these risks manifest in day-to-day operations.

Our collaboration with specialists such as CyberOwl becomes critical where where their technology, intelligence and security operations enable rapid incident response for maritime businesses:

• Analyse vessel IT & OT networks and systems to identify vulnerabilities before attackers do.
• Detect and pinpoint abnormal activity in real time – from malware to suspicious data traffic in particular those that originate from vendors or human behaviours – whilst directly providing just-in-time training for crew to improve awareness of cyber risks.
• Mitigate loss events by providing actionable insights that allow operators to respond decisively and contain impact.

By embedding cyber resilience into core maritime risk management strategies, the industry can avoid treating cyber as an abstract IT issue and instead manage it as an operational and commercial threat.

The next wave of maritime safety isn’t only about stronger hulls or more efficient engines. It’s about securing the invisible systems that steer them.

Refer and download a recent CyberOwl cyber risk report covering insights around designing, constructing and operating vessels: https://cyberowl.io/resources/global-industry-report-the-lifecycle-dilemma-navigating-cybersecurity-risks-across-designing-constructing-and-operating-a-vessel/