Container trucks and cargo planes can break down like any other digital system. CNBC writes that the problem is made even more relevant by the problems in supply chains caused by the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia. In addition, hackers have already blocked the work of shipping companies.

In December 2021, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, a maritime, road, rail and airline company, said its operations were affected by a phishing attack. Therefore, the acceptance of new orders was suspended for several days. Hellmann also shut down data centers and some of their systems around the world to limit the spread of malware. The company did not report the amount of damage – but it is clear that it is in the tens of millions of dollars.

The company was not ready to attack the hackers: the system had to be shut down manually. Also, the firm did not have a plan for how to work in such situations.

According to Sami Awad-Hartmann, Hellmann’s director of information technology, the hackers had two main goals: cracking the company’s encryption system and further data theft. After that, attackers will resort to blackmail and ransom demands, according to the company. Hellmann is still working with law enforcement to try to determine who was behind the cyberattack.

The NotPetya attack in 2017 affected, among others, Danish container shipping company Maersk. The firm said the attackers gained access to the data and demanded ransom in bitcoin. Damage from the cyberattack is estimated at $200-300 million.

In February 2020, Toll Group, the shipping company owned by Post of Japan, had to shut down some of its information systems after a cyberattack. The firm said it was hacked by hackers linked to Russia and demanded a ransom.

However, hackers don’t always claim it. In 2013, criminals hacked the systems in the port of Antwerp to control the movement of containers. So they can store and transport shipments of drugs: as soon as hackers broke into the necessary systems, they changed the location and time of containers with illegal cargo. The smugglers then sent drivers to retrieve the shipping containers with the drugs before anyone could tamper with the cargo.

In this case, the hackers also used phishing attacks and distributed malware between port authority and shipping companies’ devices. At the same time, the evil was not immediately noticed – then the drugs had already left the port.