Advanced AI-based network protection across its shore-based offices is central to Wallem Group’s ability to focus on ensuring the smooth operations of its managed fleet, says the group’s general manager, Raymond Ho.

Advancing technology is pivotal to the maritime sector’s drive towards safer, smarter and more sustainable operations, leading many to flag up linkage between the rise of digital applications and processes, and the growing exposure of ships and shipping to cyber threats.

Developing smart vessel management techniques that are fit to support the ‘ship of the future’ is part of the job description for Raymond Ho, General Manager, Wallem Group. His determination to emphasise how vigilance in cyber security needs to start ‘at home’ in shipping’s corporate offices is therefore refreshing, in an industry where ship networks are not the most common point of entry for cyberattacks.

On the ship side, Wallem conducts onboard IT surveys before vessel takeover, restructuring the IT network to align it with groupwide cyber-security requirements. It also performs annual assessments to identify any IT equipment on board the vessel that is due for replacement, proposing a budget for new equipment and recommending value added services to help strengthen onboard cyber resilience.

Yet as Ho explains, Wallem can only ensure the cyber security – and more broadly, the safety, efficiency, and sustainability – of its managed fleet if its land-based facilities are well protected from digital threats.

“If our offices’ cyber defences are not up to standard, we’re spending time and resources resolving breaches that we could otherwise invest in optimising security and vessel performance across our managed fleet,” says Ho. “So, for us, smooth fleet operations begin with robust cyber security on shore.”

The group has engaged third-party cyber-security service provider Darktrace to provide network monitoring of its major offices. After piloting Darktrace’s Cyber AI Analyst at its Hong Kong headquarters in 2019, Wallem deployed the artificial intelligence-based solution at its Singapore, Shanghai, Clark, and Mumbai offices as well as its Singapore datacentre.

Cyber AI Analyst combines human expertise with AI to triage, interpret, and report on cyber-security incidents, contextualising events, adapting to novel techniques, and ensuring consistent end-to-end protection. By continuously monitoring network activity, the solution learns what is normal for each user, device, and application and automatically detects and responds to new threats within seconds to protect against evolving infiltration methods.

Ho points to a case in which Cyber AI Analyst detected malware beaconing on Wallem’s network. According to Darktrace, “beaconing occurs when a malicious program attempts to establish contact with its online infrastructure.” Thanks to the AI solution, Wallem was able to trace the signal to malware on an employee’s computer, resolving the issue before it escalated into a full-scale network attack. “Before we used Darktrace’s solution, we could only protect against the risks we expected,” comments Ho. “We lacked visibility of the hidden malicious activities on our network and the ability to correlate a series of activities with a potential cyber threat. This has all changed since we started working with Darktrace.”

Ho explains that Darktrace’s Cyber Analyst team trained Wallem’s IT department in interpreting, classifying, and investigating potential cyber threats reported by the Threat Visualizer tool, which allows the group to determine the risk level of potential threats and prioritise them accordingly. Based on the threat patterns identified, Wallem has fine-tuned its network and firewall policies. The group has also segregated its business, BYOD, and guest Wi-Fi networks and updated its IT policy to prohibit non-corporate devices from connecting to its business network.

“While we only use Darktrace’s solution on shore, working with the company has given us fresh insight into security measures and best practice that we can apply across our fleet,” says Ho. “With our offices now robustly and intelligently protected from evolving cyber threats, we have the capacity and peace of mind to focus on delivering services that facilitate safe, smart, and sustainable vessel operations and ultimately serve the Ship of the Future.”

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