HONOLULU: Hackers took their best shot at the islands’ maritime industry in a simulated cyber attack.Hawaii’s shipping industry is not only big business, it is essential for residents’ way of life.
As ships and shore facilities become more high-tech, they may also risk more exposure to a cyber attack with potentially devastating results.
“It would cause economic disruption to those of us in Hawaii. We are particularly vulnerable because 98 percent of our goods come in through the ports,” said Charles Barclay, with the Area Maritime Security Committee.
Along with economic problems, cyber attacks could cause social or environmental ones.
Hacked port facilities could allow in drugs or illegal weapons. Ships with non-secure GPS could be redirected, or those with compromised controls could be forced to unexpectedly release fuel or waste.
“In the maritime industry, this is one of the things that keeps us up at night,” said Barclay.
“You see attacks on other businesses or corporations, and you wonder what would happen if that happened to us here. What we’re doing is try to prepare for that in advance,” said Capt. Shannon Gilreath, with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Coast Guard members, along with the University of Hawaii students and local IT personnel joined a cyber range to test their skills defending against actual attacks by hackers.
Those attacks happened on a simulated shipping business and operations set up at UH Manoa. In real life, that fight is a never-ending battle.
“We’re slowly getting better at defending this infrastructure, but at the same time hackers are getting cleverer as well,” said Vince Hoang, with Hawaiian Tel.
Attackers assaulted test servers from different angles, as they looked for ways to defeat defenses and access information or infect targeted systems.It wasn’t a fight just to see which side would win.
After the two-day exercise is over, the information will be given to the maritime industry to help it shore up defenses.
While the cyberrange was set up to test weaknesses in Hawaii’s harbors and shipping companies, organizers said the lessons learned could also benefit other businesses or even entire industries
