The reliance of the national and world economies on the global supply chain make them vulnerable to any number of incidents, including deliberate attack, natural disasters and accidents. Furthermore, the supply chain’s existence on both land and sea require several different modes of transportation to function properly. Each of these different modes of transportation present unique security challenges, which must be addressed in order to ensure the efficient flow of goods across the globe. Of the different modes of transportation associated with the global supply chain, the maritime security element, specifically, container shipping and its associated operations (i.e. port operations), are the most vulnerable. This is primarily due
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Although cyber awareness has steadily increased over the years, Kramek (2013) points out that “cybersecurity awareness in U.S. port facilities [is] generally low [and] the cybersecurity culture in U.S. port facilities is generally lacking” (p. 27). This is a frightening revelation considering our reliance on technology today. Poor cybersecurity practices could lead to a number consequences, including lost cargo, delays, disruption, physical or environmental damage. Equally significant is the effect on our economy if ports around the U.S. were to suffer catastrophic cyber-attacks. In 2014, U.S. seaports contributed $4.56 trillion to the economy of which “$4.3 trillion was the economic value created by the movement of cargo through seaports” (DHS, 2016, p. 3). The second, and perhaps less obvious, vulnerability associated with seaports is the coming together of different modes of transportation. Seaports are reliant on truck and rail carriers to move containers from the port to their final destination. Although the container remains the same, the size, shape and composition of the vehicles carrying the containers makes container shipping security that much more difficult. Additionally, these different modes of transportation represent a near limitless number of avenues through which contraband can be moved from one country to virtually any point with
Although cyber awareness has steadily increased over the years, Kramek (2013) points out that “cybersecurity awareness in U.S. port facilities [is] generally low [and] the cybersecurity culture in U.S. port facilities is generally lacking” (p. 27). This is a frightening revelation considering our reliance on technology today. Poor cybersecurity practices could lead to a number consequences, including lost cargo, delays, disruption, physical or environmental damage. Equally significant is the effect on our economy if ports around the U.S. were to suffer catastrophic cyber-attacks. In 2014, U.S. seaports contributed $4.56 trillion to the economy of which “$4.3 trillion was the economic value created by the movement of cargo through seaports” (DHS, 2016, p. 3). The second, and perhaps less obvious, vulnerability associated with seaports is the coming together of different modes of transportation. Seaports are reliant on truck and rail carriers to move containers from the port to their final destination. Although the container remains the same, the size, shape and composition of the vehicles carrying the containers makes container shipping security that much more difficult. Additionally, these different modes of transportation represent a near limitless number of avenues through which contraband can be moved from one country to virtually any point with