How to Help Protect Your Trucking Operation from Cyber Crime

In the past, trucking companies thought of security mostly as protection from physical loss of products or equipment. Today, those are still threats, but cyber threats are on the rise. Cybercrime is one of the fastest-growing types of crimes in the world, and it’s not just limited to large retailers or financial service companies. Businesses of all sizes, including motor carriers and owner operators, face the risk of cyber loss.
October 20, 2020 | Trucker
By: Cliff J.
I bring over 30 years of trucking industry experience to Acuity. I worked my way up from driving to managing the safety operations of a transportation company, culminating in owning and managing my own regional trucking company. My main goal at Acuity is to help you, the motor carrier, the owner/operator and the driver better understand the insurance industry and help shape Acuity’s products and services to better meet your needs. I regularly provide ongoing trucking training to Acuity employees to help them understand the unique needs of those in the trucking/transportation industry. With over 30 years in the transportation sector, as both a company driver and as owner and manager of a trucking company, I have first-hand experience that helps me understand the challenges truckers’ face, and detailed knowledge of transportation regulations. My experience coupled with a background in insurance loss control can help answer and provide solutions to any issues that may arise.

In the past, trucking companies thought of security mostly as protection from physical loss of products or equipment. Today, those are still threats, but cyber threats are on the rise. Cybercrime is one of the fastest-growing types of crimes in the world, and it’s not just limited to large retailers or financial service companies. Businesses of all sizes, including motor carriers and owner operators, face the risk of cyber loss.  

 

With the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the number of connected devices in today’s world, motor carriers have become a target of cybercriminals. Even if you don't think it could happen to you, look around your operation. Your trucking company has likely implemented electronic logging devices, dashcams, and other connected devices, which are potential access points to your system, and you probably use emails and websites as well. The number of cybercrimes will almost certainly increase as the number of connected devices grows within fleets.

 

Today, email is the most common way that cyberattacks are perpetrated, with an estimated 85% of business hacking resulting from phishing. Unfortunately, many motor carriers lag behind in allocating resources to prepare for and defend against cybercrime. 

 

So, what can the trucking industry and your company do to address this?  

 

Customers of Acuity have access to a wide range of free cyber risk management information and resources through the Acuity e-RiskHub®. A simple registration at eriskhub.com/acuity is all that is required to gain access to these resources. 

 

Additionally, cyber liability coverage should be an important part of a motor carrier's insurance and risk management strategy. As a liability coverage, cyber liability protects against third-party damages, costs of defense, settlement, and judgments. It is triggered by a network security event, such as a breach of third-party business data, an unintended propagation of malware, or a denial-of-service attack. Additionally, cyber liability can provide first-party coverage to reimburse a business for the costs it incurs, including data and systems restoration, business income, and public relations expenses. 

 

The trucking industry has established a program called Fleet CyWatch to combat cybercrime in the industry. 

 

According to Fleet CyWatch, "In today's environment, cyber adversaries target victims based on poorly secured systems and inexperienced employees to illegally access confidential and proprietary information, disrupt business operations, and leverage compromised systems for malicious purposes. Fleet CyWatch is used for reporting all types of Internet crimes related to disrupting fleet operations. Reports will be communicated with appropriate federal cyber-authorities to be handled by jurisdiction, type of cybercrime, and commercial/public impact. After protecting fleet identity, reports are communicated with intelligence sharing and analysis agencies and the fleet community registered to Fleet CyWatch."

 

According to Ken Craig, vice president of special projects for McLeod Software “Sometimes the point of vulnerability isn’t technology-based at all, but human-based. A hacker probing a company’s defenses were unable to find a weakness via the computer systems, so they called the company’s main phone line and went down the company directory until they found someone whose outgoing voicemail said they were on vacation for the next two weeks. They mimicked that employee’s voice and called the company’s IT help desk, saying they were having trouble logging in remotely, and got the access information needed.”

 

If a hacker penetrates a financial area of a company, such as their fuel program accounts, it can be difficult for a motor carrier to recover.

 

So, what can be done to begin the process of protecting your company from intrusion? The ATA held a panel discussion about cyber security offering several strategies to help prevent cyberattacks and mitigate their consequences, including:

 

  1. Conduct an assessment to evaluate your vulnerabilities.
  2. Conduct a penetration test in which an outside party tests and probes your systems looking for vulnerabilities. Don’t tell your team you’re doing it, or they will become more vigilant and skew the results.
  3. Prioritize the risks and put resources in the most needed areas.
  4. Apply software patches, making them a regular part of operations and maintenance. 
  5. Consider cyber insurance to protect your business.
  6. Create an incident response plan. Don’t wait until you get a phone call at 2:30 a.m. to figure out what you’re going to do if your company is the victim of a cyberattack.

 

To learn more about Acuity’s cyber coverage, contact your independent insurance agent. 

 

References:

https://www.truckinginfo.com/341883/why-trucking-companies-need-to-plan-now-for-a-cyber-attack

https://www.trucking.org/fleet-cywatch

By: Cliff J.
I bring over 30 years of trucking industry experience to Acuity. I worked my way up from driving to managing the safety operations of a transportation company, culminating in owning and managing my own regional trucking company. My main goal at Acuity is to help you, the motor carrier, the owner/operator and the driver better understand the insurance industry and help shape Acuity’s products and services to better meet your needs. I regularly provide ongoing trucking training to Acuity employees to help them understand the unique needs of those in the trucking/transportation industry. With over 30 years in the transportation sector, as both a company driver and as owner and manager of a trucking company, I have first-hand experience that helps me understand the challenges truckers’ face, and detailed knowledge of transportation regulations. My experience coupled with a background in insurance loss control can help answer and provide solutions to any issues that may arise.