The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the maritime industry have collaborated to create a voluntary framework, or cybersecurity “Profile” for Maritime Bulk Liquid Transfer (MBLT) facilities.
The Profile is the first of its kind for the maritime transportation sector, and it is the result of the coordination between the Coast Guard Office of Port and Facility Compliance, the NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE), and industry stakeholders, wrote USCG Lt. Katie Braynard in a blog post.
The Profile implements the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which was developed in 2014 to address and manage cybersecurity risk in a cost-effective way based on business needs and without placing additional regulatory requirements on businesses, wrote Braynard.
“This first Cybersecurity Framework Profile for the maritime transportation sector is the culmination of hard work from industry stakeholders, the Coast Guard and NIST to provide guidance to the MBLT industry to adapt their risk management processes to include cyber risk management,” said Capt. Ryan Manning, chief of the Office of Port and Facility Compliance. “While these profiles are voluntary in nature, I highly encourage industry to consider using this to achieve optimal cybersecurity for their respective organization.”
