Global ship manager Anglo-Eastern has inked a memorandum of understanding on cyber security with Naval Dome.

Signed by Capt. Bjorn Hojgaard, CEO of Anglo-Eastern, and Naval Dome CEO Itai Sela, the agreement underpins the ship manager’s commitment to protecting the vessels and personnel under its management from cyber-attack.

Under the agreement, Naval Dome will provide Anglo-Eastern with cyber security research and consultancy services aimed at ensuring its 650+ vessel fleet operates in an environment resilient to the most sophisticated of cyber-attack.

With its advanced penetrative testing capability and Security Level 4 accreditation, Naval Dome will carry out an evaluation of the company’s cyber position and make recommendations, where necessary, on how systems can be better protected.

Capt. Hojgaard said: “Cyber threats are amongst the most serious challenges the global shipping industry faces and we share Naval Dome’s view that the industry at large must do more to protect itself. The MoU we have signed aims not only to enhance the level of security across our fleet, but to also encourage system providers to retrofit systems installed aboard the global fleet with more advanced cyber protection.”

As part of the agreement, Naval Dome and Anglo-Eastern will look to collaborate with OEMs and OT (operational technology) service providers to incorporate more effective security solutions for both newbuild vessels and existing ships with legacy equipment.

Naval Dome CEO Itai Sela said: “We are delighted to sign this cooperation agreement with Anglo-Eastern. All ships must operate with equipment capable of preventing the most sophisticated of attacks from penetrating critical systems. As such, we believe that all players – ship owners, ship managers, offshore operators, and OEMS – need to collaborate more on how best to cost-effectively eradicate the problem once and for all. We hope equipment suppliers will step up to the challenge.”

Capt. Hojgaard said: “Cyber threats are amongst the most serious challenges the global shipping industry faces.”

“All players need to collaborate more to eradicate the cyber problem once and for all,” says Naval Dome’s Itai Sela