A cyber attack hits a leading container terminal in Nhava Sheva (India)

Jawaharlal Nehru Container Terminal (JNPCT) (Photo: TheDollarBusiness)

An attack suspected of being caused by an encrypted virus (Ransomware) has brought down the management information system (MIS) at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT), one of the top five container terminals of JNPT (Nhava Sheva), India.

JNPCT, which is the oldest port in India, is operated by the host state, while others have been licensed to private investors such as DP World, APM Terminals and PSA on a construction basis-operate-transfer.

The attack was discovered on February 21st and the port authorities are working very hard to restore the critical operating systems.

“There are still no firm indications as to when the outage will be fixed,” the manager of a shipping line in Nhava Sheva told The Loadstar.

The JNPT has not released any official updates on the source and manner of this attack, but the JNPCT diverted one of its scheduled ships to a nearby harbor after they abruptly stopped receive ships.

Other private terminals at the JNPT are operating normally, according to port sources.

Cybersecurity has become a highly sensitive topic at the industry level and a top operational priority for stakeholders in the container supply chain since the “Petya” cyberattack against Maersk in June 2017.

This week, Expeditors also faced a cyber attack and is working to address the challenges.

JNPCT started operation in 1989. It is designed with a berth length of 680 meters and an annual capacity of about 1.5 million teu. In recent times large shipping lines and corporations have turned to private terminals for productivity reasons, and thus have resulted in a steady decline in the output of this terminal in recent years.

Source: Phaata.com (According to The Loadstar)

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