The Port of Los Angeles announced Monday it had launched its Cyber Resilience Center (CRC), a port community cyber defense solution that would improve the cybersecurity of the Port.
The CRC would enhance threat-sharing and recovery capabilities among supply chain stakeholders, the Port said. Designed through a collaborative process with participating stakeholders, IBM will operate the CRC.
“We must take every precaution against potential cyber incidents, particularly those that could threaten or disrupt the flow of cargo,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “This new Cyber Resilience Center provides a new level of awareness for our stakeholders by providing enhanced intelligence, better collective knowledge sharing, and heightened protection against cyber threats within our supply chain community.”
The CRC allows participating stakeholders to automatically share cyber threat indicators and potential defensive measures with one another. The “system of systems” approach centralizes information for port stakeholders while helping to prevent cyber disruption of the supply chain. The platform serves as a hub for receiving, analyzing, and sharing information between its shareholders and external intelligence sources and serves as an advisory resource to assist with recovery.
“The past year has proven the vital role that ports hold to our nation’s critical infrastructure, supply chains, and economy, underscoring that it’s paramount we secure this ecosystem,” said Christopher McCurdy, General Manager, IBM Security Services. “The Port of Los Angeles is setting a new industry standard with a first-of-its-kind initiative to increase cyber readiness across the maritime community. With IBM’s cutting-edge technologies in cloud and AI fueling the CRC, we’re able to provide the maritime ecosystem with the threat insights necessary to stay ahead of cyber threats and improve response time.”
An initial group of 20 stakeholders is currently participating in the new system. More groups are expected to join every six months. The CRC will also be conducting tabletop exercises with stakeholders and providing them with annual cybersecurity training.