ClassNK joins maritime cyber risk management group MTS-ISAC

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ClassNK has joined the Maritime Transportation System Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MTS-ISAC). Set up in February this year, MTS-ISAC promotes and facilitates maritime cybersecurity information sharing, awareness, training and collaboration efforts between private and public sector stakeholders.

ClassNK is the first classification society and the first non-U.S. organization to formally join MTS-ISAC, helping broaden the reach of MTS-ISAC’s efforts to support the maritime community.

The partnership provides ClassNK with actionable insights from community-sourced cyber threat intelligence to reinforce ClassNK’s Cyber Security Guidelines to help prevent cyber incidents from negatively impacting the safety and security of maritime operations.

Both vessel and shoreside cybersecurity efforts will be under increasing scrutiny starting in 2021. IMO has set a January 21, 2021, deadline for Maritime Cyber Risk Management to be addressed in ships’ Safety Management Systems. Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard will be inspecting Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 regulated facilities for cyber risk management efforts for the first time starting with annual inspections occurring on or after October 1, 2021.

“We have been working with the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), maritime stakeholders and cyber security professionals to understand and promote cybersecurity best practices across the maritime transportation system (MTS),” says Hirofumi Takano, Executive Vice President at ClassNK. “By joining the MTS-ISAC, we will have increased visibility to current, real-world examples of cyber threats targeting MTS stakeholders. This provides us an opportunity to reinforce how, and periodically update, ClassNK’s Cyber Security standards to provide our stakeholders with the latest security recommendations to protect their assets from cyber threats. With IMO 2021 right around the corner, this relationship is perfectly timed to add increasing value to our stakeholders, and we are excited to be a part of the active and growing MTS-ISAC community. We hope ClassNK stakeholders will quickly understand the value of this partnership.”

“We are excited that ClassNK is bringing a proactive, classification society perspective into the MTS-ISAC community,” says Scott Dickerson, MTS-ISAC’s Executive Director. “The MTS community’s resiliency is improved when we can quickly address cyber risks with meaningful cybersecurity controls. ClassNK joining the MTS-ISAC is a perfect example of how community partnerships provide win-win situations while reinforcing to stakeholders how the implementation of guidelines and recommended security controls can reduce their exposure to risks the community is actively seeing.”