The shipping supply chain is stressed from Covid. That makes it ripe for hackers.

The global supply chain, where goods are shipped all over the world, is already stretched thin thanks to a year and a half of operating during a pandemic. It really doesn’t need hackers mucking things up further.

But experts warn that the $100 billion shipping industry — especially the heavily computerized ports that receive cargo ships, as well as the actual crafts — are ripe targets for ransomware attacks. And the U.S. shipping industry is already backed up, as the coronavirus pandemic has caused a backlog with Americans ordering more goods to their home than ever before.

Ransomware can hamper practically any organization that’s connected to the internet: Schools, hospitals, manufacturers, city governments and police departments are all frequent targets. But the shipping industry, more than most, relies heavily on the interaction between a number of different digital systems, from ports and cities to individual ships and the companies that own them.

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