The Biden government has announced the first steps they will take to make U.S. ports safer, including better security measures.
Ports in the United States are where most trade comes into the country. This is a big industry that supports more than 30 million jobs and brings in $5.4 trillion for the country. Biden signed an order that all ports must follow safety rules and guidelines set by the government and the business.
Biden is also making it so that computer threats or attacks should be reported to the Coast Guard computer Command. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will get these reports.
A high-level government official said, “The cyber threat to critical infrastructure is being dealt with as a whole department issue.” A $20 billion plan called the Investing in America Agenda is also said to be used to improve the facilities of U.S. ports.
The top government official also said, “A cyberattack could have a domino effect on both our domestic and global supply chains: our ports handle over 90% of all international trade and our economy is worth over $5.4 trillion.”
The port security study found that the cranes that move goods from ships to other ships could be a security risk. About 80% of those cranes were made in China and use Chinese software, which makes people worry about Chinese spying. They said that these cranes have high-tech monitors that might be able to keep track of information about cargo containers.
In the past few years, these cranes have caused a lot of debate when it comes to hacking and the idea that they could be used to spy on people. China said that these worries were “paranoia-driven,” which meant that there was no reason for them, when they were made public. As of now, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co, the company that made the cranes, has not replied to our request for comment.
