VARD Maritime Cyber
Ensuring cyber resilience at sea
Cyber resilience is essential to protect maritime operations in an increasingly digital and interconnected world. As the industry embraces digitalisation, vessels and systems become more exposed to cyber threats. To ensure safe and smart operations, vessels must be fully cyber resilient. At VARD, cyber resilience means the ability to withstand, operate through, and recover from cyberattacks.
Complex and dynamic digital threat landscape
Cyber resilience is fundamental to protect maritime operations from an increasingly complex and dynamic digital threat landscape. While the maritime industry is undergoing a major transformation driven by the fast adoption of digitalisation, more and more systems must be interconnected to create such data driven ecosystems.
However, in the pursue of smarter and online vessels and operations, we are also naturally facing an increased exposure to cyber threats. It is our job to build a platform that enables our customers to manage cyber risks in their operations.
Cybersecurity integration
VARD has, over time and with great commitment, prepared and strengthened our organisation across the fully integrated value chain, to address evolving maritime cybersecurity requirements. In doing this, we have expanded our traditional role as shipbuilder and vessel integrator of highly specialized vessels to also encompass cyber resilience – from concepts to sailing vessels.
A key aspect of this level of integration is to ensure that systems are interconnected in a secure and controlled manner. However, linking systems together also opens for creating new digital vulnerabilities. Each such connection must be carefully designed and validated to prevent unauthorized access, to minimize attack surfaces, and to maintain the integrity and success of critical operations.
Cyber resilience built into the core
A significant share of systems onboards a cyber resilient VARD vessel are delivered from Vard Electro’s SeaQ portfolio. Ensuring compliance with the latest cybersecurity regulations requires close collaboration with both customers and classification societies. With SeaQ technology, we provide our customers with cyber resilient solutions built from the ground up.
Lifting systems with cyber safety in mind
Seaonics delivers advanced handling and lifting equipment for demanding maritime operations. These systems are increasingly automated and connected, which places cybersecurity at the core of their development and integration. Cyber resilience is a priority in product development. By collaborating across the VARD value chain, Seaonics ensures that its systems are designed with robust safety barriers and secure communication pathways to support reliable and secure vessel operations - today and into the future.
Secure spaces from the inside out
As the provider of complete interior solutions for vessels, Vard Interiors plays an important role in supporting a cyber-resilient environment on board. In addition to delivering lighting, comfort systems, and digital infrastructure in accommodation areas, Vard Interiors is also responsible for implementing physical security measures, such as installing and configuring locks on doors that protect critical digital architecture.
Strategic cyber resilience across the value chain
Henning Karleif Øye is VP Cyber Resilience in VARD and says that maritime cyber is supported by VARD’s corporate security policy which is to have secure products from a secure house in a secure supply chain network:
“We are constantly aiming at fostering a robust security culture through our entire value chain. Our focus is not only cyber defence, but to grow and deliver the strategic and proactive mindset of cyber resilience. We need to manage current cyber risks and be able to effectively adapt to mitigate yet unknown security threats. This strategy, matched with cybersecurity industry standards and best practice technical aspects, strengthens our corporate security posture, and extends it to the ships we build and the products and services we deliver for our customers.“
