(VitalNews.org) – The Biden administration has announced their first series of actions that they will use to strengthen cybersecurity at U.S. ports.
United States ports are the main point of entry for trade and it’s a huge business as it employs more than 30 million people and generates $5.4 trillion for the United States. Biden has signed an executive order that makes sure all ports follow international and industry guidelines and safety regulations.
Biden is also implementing that cybersecurity threats or attacks should be reported to the Coast Guard Cyber Command and the reports will be shared with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
A senior administration official said, “We are taking the cyber threat posed to critical infrastructure as a whole of department approach.” It’s also said that $20 billion will be used to strengthen United States port infrastructure, which is done through the Investing in America Agenda.
The senior administration official also said, “With over $5.4 trillion in economic activity and over 90% of overseas trade moved through our ports, a cyberattack could cause a cascading impact to both our domestic and global supply chains.”
The investigation into port security showed that the cranes used to move products off of vessels could be a security threat. It’s said that about 80% of those cranes were made in China and use Chinese software, which causes concern over Chinese surveillance. They have said that these cranes have sophisticated sensors that could potentially track cargo container information.
In recent years, these cranes have been controversial when it comes to cybersecurity and the potential that they are being used as a spying tool. However, when these concerns came to light, China said that they were “paranoia-driven” alluding that there was no reason for them. As of now, the manufacturing company of the cranes, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co, did not respond to comment.
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