The Center For Cyber Security (CFCS) held a briefing on the cyber threat against Danish commercial ports and logistics companies on Tuesday, together with the Danish Transport Agency. The background for the orientation meeting was a new threat assessment.
It appears from the threat assessment that the biggest threat to ports and logistics companies in Denmark is cyberespionage and cybercrime.
Cyberespionage threatens security
Cyberespionage poses a serious threat, as ports and logistics companies may be in possession of critical information, not only for society but also for the Armed Forces. This may therefore result in foreign states gaining access to information of security policy significance for Denmark, the threat assessment states, among other things.
Ransomware is a serious threat
Other cybercrime also poses a serious threat to ports and logistics companies in Denmark. Ransomware is the most serious threat, as ransomware attacks continue to be a widespread attack method across critical sectors. In ransomware attacks, a company’s data can be encrypted and locked, and the company cannot access data again until a ransom is paid. Ransomware attacks can be expensive for the Danish ports and logistics companies, and in addition, attacks can also in extreme cases disrupt the delivery of socially important services, the threat assessment states.
Capacity and intention
The threat assessment from CFCS describes the cyber threat directed against ports and logistics companies in Denmark. The assessment has been made on the basis of concrete examples of cyber attacks against ports and logistics companies both in Denmark and internationally. The threat assessment is also based on concrete knowledge about, for example, the “capacity and intention” of hackers and intelligence services, as stated in the assessment. CFCS has also been in dialogue with several ports and logistics companies in Denmark.
Commercial ports and carriers
The threat assessment from CFCS applies to all commercial ports in Denmark, regardless of ownership. In the threat assessment, logistics companies are defined as “companies whose core business is to transport goods and merchandise for customers.”
The assessment thus does not include the threat against the specific transports and means of transport such as planes, trains and trucks, but exclusively against the logistics companies and their systems. Shipping is also not included in the threat assessment. Shipping is considered an independent sector in Denmark.
Two years horizon
The assessment is based on the current threat picture and has a warning horizon of up to two years. CFCS emphasizes, however, that the cyber threat is dynamic, and the threat picture in some areas can change suddenly.
