MCAD Maritime Cyber Attack Database
Drilling rig on its way from South Korea to Brazil got hit by malware attack by Somali pirates. The pirates help choose their targets by viewing navigational data online, prompting ships to either t+X157re infected, requiring 19 days of downtime to clear the issue. They also had to knock out their networks and forcing shutdowns because of potential conflicts with safety systems. None of the workers knew the ins and outs of the Computer System they were using to operate the rig, which contributed to the delayed response
Greek Shipping Company hit by a hacking attack from 2010-2011 carried out by hackers hired by local pirates. Local pirates hired hackers to gain access to the company's local HQ and identify the most vulnerable ships along with the routes and timetables. Hackers gained access to the company's IT Systems via Wi-Fi-equipment that was installed at the company's office. These hacks resulted in successful pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden
May, 2008Oil platforms Pacific Energy Resources got hit by SCADA tampering/hack in May 2008. Mario Azar was an information technology consultant for Pacific Energy Resources who received his last pay check May 8. He sought permanent employment, but the company refused, according to the indictment. Azar impaired the integrity and availability of data. Azar used his multiple user accounts to impair the leak-detection system while logged in from his Southern California home. The attack temporarily disabled the servers and the leak detection system was shut down. This resulted in thousands of dollars of damages.
May, 2004In May 2004, the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency hit by a malware attack. Sven Jaschan (Germany) damaged the systems through the Sasser Worm Virus. It got into Windows computers by exploiting a programming bug in the operating system. The attack affected coastguard logging operations. All coastguard stations except Milford Haven were unable to access e-mails, computer-generated charts and one source of weather information.
Dec, 2002In December 2002, during the general strike a port facility in Venezuela hit by a hacking attack. Someone, possibly an employee involved in the general strike, remotely accessed the SCADA system to erase all PLC programs in port facility in order to decrease the national production of oil in Venezuela. All of the Programmable Logistic Controllers were erased in a port facility, preventing tanker loading for eight hours, causing the national production of oil in Venezuela to decrease from 3 million BPD to 300 thousand BPD.
Sep, 2001In September 2001, the port of Houston got hit by a DDoS attack. The accused 19-year old teenager Aaron Caffrey from the UK slowed systems at the port of Houston in Texas to a crawl as the result of a revenge-attack actually aimed at a fellow chat-room user, called Bokkie. The systems were one of an number of intermediary server systems used in the PING flood attack. As a result the Computer Systems crashed, placing shipping at risk. Data (tides, water depths and weather) to help pilots navigate through the harbour and by shipping companies also became inaccessible. It turns out that Aaron didn’t have anything to do with the attack. An unidentified third party had planted the attack script on his system without his knowledge, set to run once he opened a particular file. He walked free from Southwark Crown Court after the jury found him not guilty of a single count of unauthorised modification of computer material.