JNPT to conduct IT audit, training to boost cyber security

India's largest container port
JNPT has initiated steps, including a special IT audit and
staff training by a Big 4 consultancy firm, to prevent cyber
attacks like the one that crippled the operations of one of
its terminals last week.
One of the terminals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port
Trust (JNPT) was impacted by a malware attack last month.
"Our IT systems have been found to be very secure but
to prevent any such situation in the future, we need to be
very careful," a senior port official told PTI.
The port has given the go-ahead for an inspection of
the IT systems to plug any loopholes and also undertaking a
safety training programme for the staff, the official said.
Consultancy firm EY approached the port to work on a
pro-bono basis to conduct the IT audit and also staff
training, the official said, adding a decision has been taken
to let them start with the same.
Notably, National Cyber Security Advisor Gulshan Rai
had rushed to the port following the impact on operations due
to issues at the privately-operated GTI Terminal.
The official said Rai was satisfied with the network
security when he took a review of the same during the visit.
GTI's parent AP Moller Maersk was one of the impacted
entities in the last week's global cyber attack which
compromised IT systems, leading to disruptions at its assets
across the world.
Other affected entities in the attack, which comes
within a month of the similar ransomware 'Wannacry' attacks,
were banks in Ukraine including the central bank and
advertising giant WPP, among others.
The official said import consignments are coming to
the port through the GTI terminal, while for exports, the
other two terminals operated by DP World and JNPT itself are
pooling in the resources.
The APM Group had earlier said in a statement that it
moved to manual mode of operations to handle the vessels on
hand.
"The operations are limited currently to discharging
import cargo through container freight station partners and
addressing special export cargo such as perishables," its
senior director Julian Bevis had said.
"We are making good progress towards restoring our
infrastructure and working with world-leading cyber-crime
agencies to be able to serve customers in full," he said.
The three terminals at JNPT handle nearly half of the
country's container cargo. The GTI Terminal, which has a
capacity of 1.8 million standard container units, alone
handles 4,500 containers per day.