Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity: Prioritize Risk Areas

Kalmar, a provider of port and terminal handling solutions, has released guidance emphasizing the prioritization of cybersecurity strategies for ports and terminals. The company's experts suggest that operators should concentrate their attention and resources on areas presenting the greatest risks or those that are most easily addressed.

"We always advise our customers to focus most of their attention and resources on the areas of cybersecurity that exhibit the greatest risks or are most easily addressed," stated Jouni Auer, Chief Information Security Officer at Kalmar. Auer noted that while some may be hesitant about cloud services, major providers like Google possess robust security due to their significant investments.

Kalmar's cybersecurity leads, Henri Kettunen and Timo Alho, highlight that the majority of cyber threats do not originate from the technical systems themselves but often stem from human actions or oversights. They advocate for a layered security approach ("security in depth") rather than relying solely on a single firewall. Continuous maintenance and traceability of systems are also critical.

The report urges against blaming individual users for security breaches. Instead, emphasis should be placed on user education and implementing security layers that can detect threats even if a user makes an error. Jani Mäntytörmä, Chief Cybersecurity Engineer at Kalmar, added that maintaining an accurate inventory of systems and connections, along with asset management, is fundamental to cybersecurity.

Kalmar continues to assist its clients in identifying and prioritizing their cybersecurity measures based on their specific needs and operating environments, offering flexible solutions from on-premises to cloud-based.