A wake-up call for yacht cyber security

A luxury yacht recently fell victim to a severe cyber security breach, leading to significant financial and operational losses. The captain identified two fraudulent bank transfers totaling $100,000 through the yacht’s payment application.

Additionally, the crew detected unauthorized access to the captain’s email account, with attackers impersonating him to request money from his contacts and vendors under the guise of unpaid invoices.

How malicious actors took advantage & gained access

Attackers gained access through a phishing email. 

40% of email users are able to recognize Phishing email attacks. The captain of the vessel wasn’t trained and became a victim. Malicious actor also got access to a session token theft, which allowed them to manipulate the email application by creating hidden rules that limited captain’s visibility on emails, which led to missing important correspondences. 

The breach was traced back to several cyber security weaknesses: 

• The same password was used for both; the email account and the payment application.
• There was no multi-factor authentication (MFA) in place.
• Multiple misconfigurations left the email system vulnerable

85% of organizations with a strong recovery plan resume operations within 72 hours of an incident

Incident Response in Action: A Coordinated Recovery Effort

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the yacht’s management engaged top-tier cyber security experts from OmniAccess to assist in responding to the incident and strengthening their digital defenses.

According to the NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide, organisations with a strong response plan can reduce recovery time by up to 60%.
 
 

The first critical step was the deployment of an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution across all onboard devices and systems. This enabled continuous real-time monitoring, allowing for the immediate detection and containment of malicious activity before it could escalate. The OmniAccess Security Operations Center (SOC) conducted regular scans and closely monitored device behavior to ensure ongoing protection.

To mitigate future phishing risks and secure communications, an advanced email security solution was integrated into the yacht’s email system.

Awareness at Sea: Training the First Line of Cyber Defense

This solution scanned all emails, automatically blocking suspicious messages and preventing unauthorized access. Additionally, crew members underwent comprehensive cyber security awareness training to recognize phishing attempts and enforce security best practices. This led to a significant improvement in a 90% effectiveness to detect and avoid phishing emails.

 To further enhancing the vessel’s security, the yacht management collaborated with our SOC team, providing 24/7 monitoring and rapid response capabilities.

Beyond Recovery: Strengthening the Yacht’s Long-Term Cyber Posture

The SOC’s dedicated highly skilled cyber security professionals actively analyzed their network traffic, identified anomalies, and responded to threats in real time. This proactive approach ensured that any potential security incidents were mitigated  without disrupting business continuity. 85 % of organizations with a strong recovery plan resume operations within 72 hours of an incident.

 With these robust cyber security measures in place, the yacht’s security posture improved significantly. The risk of phishing attacks, unauthorized access, and financial fraud was drastically reduced. The yacht’s crew and stakeholders could once again operate with confidence, assured that their data and financial transactions were well-protected against cyber criminals.

This incident underscores the importance of having comprehensive cyber security strategy in safeguarding luxury vessels from sophisticated digital attacks, as we can see a 56% increase of cyber-attacks & maritime industry.