BIMCO to address maritime casualty rise and IT security

Shipping organisation BIMCO will be taking action to raise awareness about I.T. Security. Its aim is to see ship owners in a position to avoid environmental, safety, and commercial risks.

BIMCO’s emphasis will be on IT security at its annual conference, which takes place on November 18 in Hamburg.

However, the conference will further address a crisis of maritime casualties, with a rising numbers of accidents in recent times.

Angus Frew, secretary general for BIMCO, said that two sessions will be run, on IT security and the management of crises when dealing with a maritime casualty.

One session will be called ‘Cyber Attack’, which will provide a demonstration of recognised flaws in ship systems, along with any possibilities of such issues being exploited in an attack.

It will also provide an opportunity to watch an expert evaluation of current IT security levels on ships, and find out more about IT attacks and what can be done to combat them.

Aron Sørensen, head of BIMCO’s marine department, said that BIMCO is a leader in the developing management practices for IT security on ships and that it plans to discuss the more recent developments in the session.

BIMCO is one of a number of companies making efforts to thwart the risk of cyber security at a time when the topic is regarded as more and more of a serious threat. If the firm creates cyber security jobs in the process, it will be joining a growing trend in the industry.