Inland Rivers, Ports, and Terminals Inc.

10/02/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/02/2024 13:32

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

FSOs and all others,

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month because we all love another month to celebrate anything spooky. I honestly believe that is why October was chosen years ago.

I attended an InfraGard briefing at the FBI field office this morning and got some of the same information I was planning on sending out to you. Buckle up- it's a rough ride today.

  1. The IC3.gov website is a great place to report cybercrimes affecting your business operations. Not everything you experience requires regulatory reporting to the Coast Guard. While we want to be informed and provide assistance, we understand that you may want to keep some things as private as possible. Reporting crimes is crucial to the FBI helping you possibly recover lost finances and it helps them track down and bring consequence to the malicious cyber actors.
  2. Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a multi-billion dollar 'industry' in the world of cybercrime. Prevention is key here. The FBI and CISA recommend having processes in place that prevent transferring large sums of money based on an email, voice message, or text message from "The Boss." Criminals using AI are getting better at tricking people into making large payments.
  3. The FBI, CISA, and the USCG are all available to assist you in running tabletop exercises to help you have a better cyber incident response plan. You can run one yourselves and invite any one or all of us. I can also help develop scenarios with you to test your plans and procedures.

I trust that you have all seen some news lately. Here is a short list of new scammy things to be aware of:

  1. Hurricane related charities are not always charities. Its always great to help out, but please be careful clicking on charity related links.
  2. The mid-East conflict that escalated yesterday has already caused/renewed some cyber related issues in US Critical Infrastructure. Make sure you are patched up and not the low-hanging fruit.

I plan to have our next AMSC Cyber-subcommittee meeting in early November. Stay well and thank you for being the drivers of our economy. Consider joining InfraGard or partnering with your local Fusion Center to get quick and accurate information about your specific location. Working with other security people and developing relationships with law enforcement is always a good idea.

Thank you,

Tyson B. Sigette

USCG Sector Upper Mississippi
Marine Transportation System Specialist (CYBER)
Teams: 206-815-3925
Desk: 314-269-2567

A single vulnerability is all an attacker needs…

For Industry Partners:

Please visit the following resources for the most up-to-dateinformation regarding your cyber posture:

USCG Maritime Cyber

CISA Shields UP