Cyber attacks hit port vendors

Michael Sohn, supervisory special agent of the FBI Los Angeles cyber outreach division, spoke to seaport stakeholders, port operators and vendors at a cybersecurity seminar held by American Association of Port Authorities.

He explained that sometimes a port operator doesn’t learn that a system has been hacked until a vendor informs them that they have no received a payment.

Under inspection the port may find that someone has illegally change the routing number for a vendor’s bank account.

In a lot of cases, banks will not reverse the charges because it was originally authorised by the port itself.

Bloomberg BNA were told that the average cost per company affected is approximately $130,000, and insurers do not pay out on claims in many cases. This leads to devastating effects for smaller vendors.