DIGITAL SHIELDING: THE IMPORTANCE OF CYBERSECURITY IN TRANSPORTATION

The transportation sector will account for 25% of the cyber-attacks recorded in 2022 and 2023! Technology and automation of systems has allowed transportation and logistics to evolve in giant steps, however, cybersecurity in transportation is a major challenge they present today and translates into millions of dollars for companies.

1.5 million dollars is the estimated cost of a cyber-attack, according to estimates in a study by the Ponemon Institute. The damage caused by cyber-attacks is not only represented in physical losses of the goods transported, but also leaves reputational damage to the company, damaging customer confidence and negatively impacting the company's competitiveness and sustainability.

Placing Mexico as the second country in Latin America with the most reported incidents, the state is still mostly not ready to prevent cyber-attacks, as a lack of solid culture in cybersecurity is still detected. “73% of transportation companies indicate that they have the necessary information to implement a digital defense strategy, but only 60% have a plan to respond to these types of threats, and almost half of them estimate that this program is not sufficient.” (Juan Manuel Martinez, 2024, para. 6)

Cybersecurity is a challenge that requires close collaboration between all actors in a logistics chain, since suffering an attack can cause disruptions in daily operations and result in delays in deliveries that sometimes become goods as components for the final assembly of a product, and the delay in the delivery of a component is affected in the rest of the actors in the logistics chain.

In recent years there has been an increase in this crime, INEGI reports reveal that at least 78% of Mexican companies experienced a security incident between 2022 and 2023. Threats are categorized into two: internal and external.

- Internal threats: Are those that come from the company's employees, either intentionally or unintentionally. An unintentional example could be when they open a link that contains a virus, and it steals the information or database. An intentional example is when a collaborator shares information with a third party and contributes to the crime.

- External threats: Are those that come from cyber criminals, or in some cases it may be the competition itself who wants to damage the reputation of its major competitor.

Among the most common threats are phishing, ransomware, and the exploitation of software vulnerabilities. Implementing advanced measures and technologies in transportation with the support of all actors in the supply chain allows for cybersecurity that protects logistics systems from threats.

Transportation companies face a great challenge, since “traditional” crimes are currently combined with new cybercrimes. We live in a world where we depend more and more on technology and communications, so we must always take advantage of them and seek to minimize those challenges that can damage the environment and the profitability of the company.

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