Naval Dome, the maritime cyber security system provider, has welcomed the Charter of Trust initiative implemented by German technology group Siemens and which has since welcomed a “who’s who” of global technology companies and brands.

The Charter looks to address the cyber security challenges that arise from increasingly digitalised, “cloud”-based infrastructure, businesses and industrial environments. The initiative aims to establish a reliable basis “where confidence in a networked, digital world can take root and grow”.

Encouraging shipping industry leaders to support the development or to establish a maritime-specific cyber charter of their own, Itai Sela, the CEO of Naval Dome, said: “Over the last few years, our ships have become more automated, more computerised and more connected. Amazing advances have been made, but all of this means that vessels are more susceptible to cyber-crime.

“The developments taking place in ship automation, Intelligent Awareness, data capture and 3D printing will create significant challenges for the shipping industry if it is unable to provide assurances that its systems, data and infrastructure are safe.”

There is currently more than 8.4billion connected systems and devices globally, a figure analysts predict will hit 20.4 billion in just two years’ time. Against this, all the cyber security breaches last year cost the world €500 billion.

Sela, who will be presenting a paper at the European Maritime Cyber Risk Management Summit in June, furthered: “That more companies have signed Siemens’ Charter of Trust is clearly indicative of the importance other industries place on securing their systems and data.”

The Charter of Trust, introduced by Siemens in February, was initially signed by founding companies Airbus, Allianz, Daimler Group, IBM, MSC, NXP, SGS and Deutsche Telekom.

In March, AES Corporation, Enel and Atos joined the group and last week Cisco, Dell Technologies, RSA, SecureWorks, TÜV SÜD, a testing, inspection and certification services company, and French oil major Total signed up.

“Cyber security is a top priority for these companies,” said Sela. “When Total signed up to the Charter, its Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said ‘the consequences of a successful cyber-attack can be extremely harmful: it can impact the safety of our staff and facilities, degrade our finances, reveal the private data of our customers or even damage our reputation. By the nature of its industrial activities and the issues at stake, a company like Total is more than willing to sign The Charter of Trust, whose principles make it an unprecedented cyber security initiative’. The maritime industry cannot afford to be complacent.”