A Russian-born ransomware attack last year shutdown of one the largest fuel pipelines in the U.S. for several days, and with tensions between the U.S. and Moscow growing daily federal officials warn that cyber attacks are likely to rise.
The Colonial Pipeline shutdown resulted in a shock to the U.S.'s infrastructure topped off with a $5 million payout to hackers while serving as another warning that cyberattacks pose ever-present risks.
As of early May 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates a nearly threefold increase in ransomware attacks during the past year. A majority of these attacks targeted smaller businesses. Transportation has long been a focus of attack. Nearly 30% of transportation and logistics organizations reported more than 20 supply chain disruptions via cyber attack in 2020, according to BCI’s Supply Chain Resilience Report 2021 – up from just 4.8% reporting the same number in 2019. Across all industries, Coro found the number of cyber attacks is increasing, but transportation stands out as one of the fastest growing sectors with attacks already having risen almost 150% between January 2020 and the end of last year.
A new whitepaper by Polaris Transportation Group (PTG), the 2020 CCJ Innovator of the Year, outlines a strategy it has been successfully using to mitigate these risks.
[Related: Top 5 signs you’ve been hacked, and what comes next?]
PTG is a cross-border transportation and supply chain solutions company based in Ontario, Canada. CCJ recognized the company as Innovator of the Year for automating the customs process and digitizing freight transactions.
