The risk of cyber crime is a clear and present danger for the shipping industry, however Kongsberg Maritime’s experts are working hard to keep vessels and crews secure.
When Kongsberg Maritime announced DNV type approval for its ship systems in 2024, it marked a major milestone in maritime cybersecurity. However, as Oscar Kallerdahl, the company’s Director of Business Development at Product Cybersecurity, says, the story has moved on.
“Certification for our products was the first step,” explains Oscar. “We have also taken the second step by defining our Kongsberg Integrated Network, which is a zoned architecture complying with IACS UR E26.
“We use our integrated network to ensure consistency and quality in all system deliveries, both large and small, with standardised documentation for product and system levels that make the process of integration and vessel certification much more efficient,” Oscar explains. “It reduces engineering effort and risk. Essentially, we’re implementing the ‘defence-in-depth’ philosophy in a very concrete way.”
Oscar Kallerdahl, Director for Product Cybersecurity
The third step is to support customers’ operations to reduce risks and stay compliant through the lifetime of the vessel with services such as Kongsberg Remote Support, Malware Protection System (MPS), Intrusion Detection System (IDS), Asset Inventory and our 24/7 Global Customer Support. “Now we’re helping customers go further, especially those with sailing vessels and rigs, asking how they can be more cyber secure.”
The biggest change to the company’s offering is the move into cybersecurity advisory services. “Owners of older vessels are asking how to improve security without replacing everything,” says Oscar.
The company now offers product and system upgrades, as in most cases customers are looking at how to improve security but not necessarily to achieve IACS UR E26 certification. For those cases, Kongsberg Maritime can offer a partial system upgrade with recommendations on which actions will give the most impact on reducing risk.
The cybersecurity team has completed gap and risk assessments for several vessels, including remote and autonomous vessels, analysing all the requirements and reviewing the risks across all installed products. Advisory reports show customers where high-risk areas are and how to reduce them. “It’s about understanding risk in detail and implementing actions to increase resilience,” Oscar emphasises. “If something fails, the impact should be limited and predicted, not catastrophic.”
“Cybersecurity is now central to our promise of quality. And it is our focus to ensure Kongsberg Maritime quality in the cybersecurity context, to be a trusted partner to owners and operators in designing and updating their vessels for secure operations.” Oscar says.
And the stakes are high: recent industry disruptions have shown how costly cyber incidents can be. “Whether you operate one vessel or a fleet, cyber risk is real. The key is starting now, to understand the risks and implement the functionalities that enable resilient operation.”
