US, Indonesia Conduct Exercise to Improve Maritime Transportation Cybersecurity

The United States and Indonesia have agreed to boost their cybersecurity collaboration focused on the international maritime transportation system.

Earlier in June, the Department of Homeland Security held a tabletop exercise in Surabaya with Indonesian maritime port authorities, cybersecurity officials and other government leaders to share insights, challenges and approaches to improve maritime cybersecurity and incident response capabilities.

The exercise involved simulations of ransomware attacks that disrupted port operations, enabling participants to stress test their cyber incident response plans and identify collaboration opportunities to make the maritime domain more resilient to cyber threats, the DHS said.

A workshop led by the U.S. Coast Guard was conducted following the exercise to share with public and private sector Indonesian maritime counterparts the policies and best practices in performing cyber incident prevention and response.

The events, held from June 10 to 13, support the DHS goal of strengthening cyber-focused partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region amid the increasing number of sophisticated cyber threats targeting the maritime transportation system, which plays a significant role in global trade and commerce.