California Apparel News

Taking steps to improve its response to cybersecurity threats to the supply chain, the Port of Los Angeles announced that the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the International Business Machines Corporation as the designer and operator of the port’s Cyber Resilience Center. Through its work with the CRC, IBM will support stakeholders in the Port of Los Angeles as they work to improve data integration and the management of cyber information by detecting nefarious attempts to intrude on the port’s system through cyber-criminal activity.

“During the pandemic, the Port of Los Angeles has seen unauthorized intrusion attempts increase by 50 percent to more than 40 million per month,” Port of Los Angeles Director Gene Seroka said in a statement. “The Cyber Resilience Center will arm our stakeholders with valuable information to help detect and protect against cyber incidents.”

The Dec. 7 announcement heralds improvements to an existing system by which Port of Los Angeles stakeholders manage cyber threats individually. Aiming to protect the heavily automated processes that allow the port to function daily through operational technologies such as trucking companies, railroad operators and shipping lines, IBM’s services will afford a shared view of potential threats. Stakeholders will continue to retain control of their information and security protocols while IBM oversees the entire system. It is the hope of IBM that this partnership will afford greater protection of the port’s critical infrastructure through stronger connections among stakeholders, allowing them to work together against cyber threats, according to Kevin Albano, associate partner with the IBM Security X-Force.

“We are trying to build a community not only at the port but extend it to those other stakeholders,” Albano said during an interview with California Apparel News. “The trucking companies, shipping lines, railroads and terminal operators will all get the benefit of what we are seeing in terms of threats—maritime threats, threats to their specific modes of transportation or modes of activity and how they relate to the port.”

Albano noted that the reliance on digitization of operations is a positive advancement that affords a stronger connection between the port and its stakeholders and that preserving the speed that technology affords is crucial to fortifying supply-chain management, which affects the speed of commerce. Kinks in the cybersecurity chain that threaten to disrupt communications are the types of threats that IBM will seek to prevent.

“One of the types of cyber attacks that is out there is to disrupt or pause automation from occurring,” Albano said. “Even the threat of saying, ‘We’re going to stop this crane,’ or if you cannot communicate between a trucking company and the port, stopping those communications or causing unreliable communication is going to affect the overall commerce that is going on.”

The partnership between IBM and the Port of Los Angeles is not the first time that the Armonk, N.Y.–headquartered technology company has worked with an organization in the region. According to Albano, IBM worked with the City of Los Angeles on a Los Angeles Cyber Lab initiative led by Mayor Eric Garcetti that established a collaborative intelligence-sharing project that included participation from private industry and afforded transparency for the city’s constituents. The success of this project leads Albano to remain optimistic about how IBM’s participation in the current project will help the Port of Los Angeles remain a secure gateway for trade.

“There are a lot of goods that go through the port. We are trying to secure the integrity of the port by knowing what comes in and what goes out and knowing there is integrity in those communications and preventing a cyber attack from delaying or manipulating the bill of goods or list of goods that are within the port or what has been received at the port,” Albano said. “We understand that the communication of what is in the port is vital, as is the speed at which it goes from one place to another.”

Through the $6.8-million, three-year agreement, IBM will design, install, operate and maintain the CRC. Since 2014, the port has operated its Port of Los Angeles Cyber Security Operations Center. In addition to its work through the center, the Port of Los Angeles is the only port to maintain an ISO 27001 certification for cybersecurity, which it has held since 2015.

Photos courtesy of the Port of Los Angeles