Is there a hacker attack on the Panama Canal—a strategic global maritime “shortcut” through which 1,200 mega-ships passed in the first five months of this year, in both directions between the Atlantic and the Pacific—coming?
This question was not directly raised at the recent session of the UN Security Council (UNSC), dedicated to global maritime security, and among other things, solving new challenges at the World Sea, for example the increase in the number of “attacks” by cyber-criminals on global ports.
A verbal conflict—”about the Panama Canal”—between Dorothy Shea, the American ambassador and acting representative of the USA in the UN, and Fu Cong, the ambassador of the Republic of China in the World Organization on that occasion, attracted a lot of media attention.
“We support Panama’s increasing vigilance in responding to malicious cyber activities. The US is concerned about China’s excessive influence in the Panama Canal Zone, especially critical infrastructure and port operations. Chinese influence in the Canal Zone is not only a risk to Panama and the US, but a potential threat to global trade and security…” Ambassador Shea pointed out.
Ambassador Fu Kong reacted immediately. “The fabrication of lies and baseless attacks by the US against China are nothing more than a pretext for seeking to control the channel. US hegemony, Cold War mentality and unilateral actions are seriously worsening the risk to global maritime security,” Fu countered.
This “diplomatic row” took place, by the way, in the middle of the complicated and still uncertain sale of 43 global ports (among them two of the five container terminals on the Panama Canal: Balboa and Cristobal) owned by the Hong Kong-based mega-firm CK Hutchison, to a consortium led by the American mega-multinational investment firm BlackRock.
In the meantime, Valdecy Urquiza, Secretary General of Interpol, confirmed on the East River that the world’s ports and seafarers are increasingly becoming the target of a new crime profile.
“Ports are facing a wave of cyber attacks targeting the energy, communication and logistics systems they rely on. In addition, cybercriminals can use artificial intelligence as a weapon to attack with greater speed, scale and precision,” added Brazilian Urquiza.
Which ports and marine terminals could become their targets first, has not been specified on the East River. In the meantime, numerous reports confirm that port authorities and merchant shipping on the routes from the Baltic Sea and the Sea of Azov, through Gibraltar, Bab el Mandeb, Hormuz and Moluccas Straits… are feverishly trying to raise their defences against attackers who no longer use pirate pirogues, launchers and other “bulky” tools and weapons… sometimes it seems that just one “pierced” USB is enough for them.
