- The event was organized by Ghenova together with the Port Authority of Ferrol and with the support of the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion, ACLUNAGA and the Ghenova-UDC Chair.
- Experts from the naval sector meet to analyze the challenges of cybersecurity in the 21st century during this conference.
Ferrol. June 26, 2024. Ghenova, together with the Port Authority of Ferrol and with the support of the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (IGAPE), the Galician Naval Cluster Association (ACLUNAGA) and the Ghenova-UDC Chair, organized a conference dedicated to addressing the challenges and solutions in this field. Cybersecurity in the shipping industry is crucial due to increasing digitization and reliance on interconnected systems that increase vulnerability to cyberattacks.
The event, held in the Sala Curuxeiras of the Port Authority of Ferrol, was inaugurated by the President of the Port Authority of Ferrol, Francisco Barea Paz, who stressed that “Digitalization helps us to improve and optimize port operations, but it also increases the threats against which we must be prepared. We are crucial nodes of global supply, critical infrastructures, so the security of computer systems and data protection are essential aspects for the optimal functioning of the port system”.
For his part, the mayor of Ferrol, José Manuel Rey Varela, inaugurated the event, emphasizing that “Advances in the field have exponentially increased opportunities for companies, but those advances come hand in hand with new and unknown risks,” he warned, noting that the day’s “will help companies and organizations related to the marine sector to address these threats through knowledge of methods to cut them off.” He also emphasized that “Cybersecurity should be understood as an investment rather than an expense because the protection of data, ideas and projects is key to business success today”.
The first keynote address was given by José Ángel Hernández Rodríguez, Captain and Chief of Staff of the Joint Cyberspace Command, who addressed the cyberthreats of the 21st century, explaining the main digital threats facing naval infrastructures today.
Subsequently, Ghenova’s Cybersecurity Director, Enrique Cubeiro, explained in his presentation “Malware on the bow”, the reasons why ships are the most difficult entities to protect against cyber threats and how the new requirements in terms of cybersecurity will transform the shipbuilding sector in a very short period of time, affecting the entire ecosystem: shipyards, integrators, suppliers, developers… He also took the opportunity to present the guide of good practices for cybersecurity in ships, prepared by the company and downloadable free of charge from the Ghenova website, of which he highlighted its two differentiating characteristics with respect to other similar ones: its comprehensible language and the fact that it contemplates the entire life cycle of the ship.
For his part, Rafael Dominguez of ACLUNAGA, explained the details of the Grants to Innovative Business Groups (AEI) for the promotion of collaborative digitization projects.
To complete the day, a round table was held on “Cybersecurity Challenges in the naval sector” moderated by Luis Carral, Professor of Shipbuilding at the University of A Coruña. Among the participants of this round table, we could listen to the analysis of Juan Ignacio Silvera, Director of Intelligent Products Program at Navantia; Pedro Sánchez Arancón, Captain, Head of Naval Systems at DGAM; Jaime Pancorbo Crespo, Technical Director of the Naval and Offshore Division in Spain and Portugal at Bureau Veritas; Marian Gálvez, Director of Maritime Business Development in Iberia, Italy and Malta at DNV; Juan Antonio Mojón Moreno, Systems and Cybersecurity Director at Aeromarine; José Carlos Campos Arcas, Head of the Technology and Innovation Division of the Port Authority of Ferrol San Cibrao; Miguel Ángel García Marín, Cybersecurity Project Manager at GHENOVA.
The conference was closed by the Regional Minister of Finance and Public Administration, Miguel Corgos Lopez-Prado, who explained that “one of the sectors declared strategic and for which the Xunta is preparing a master plan that aims to address challenges such as digitization, the incorporation of talent or the recruitment and training of professionals. All of this requires a transformation of the production sector and this is where the Ghenova Group contributes to the achievement of these objectives”. The Conselleiro also highlighted the key role of Ferrol, where there are leading companies in the sector that have contributed to technological development as Navantia, announcing that “We are the first EU region that comes to adapt the European AI regulations with the development of its own law that will soon be validated by the Council of the Xunta as a preliminary step to its processing in the Galician Parliament”.
