Filipinos & Piracy December 19, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Maritime Security, mark consulting group, phillipines, Piracy & Maritime Security
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BBC News published a story relaying the heavy toll that piracy takes on the Philippines. According to the report, fully 1/3 of the Worlds’ seafarers are from the Philippines. This means that every time a ship is hijacked it is highly likely that Filipino sailors will be involved in some manner. “Every time there’s a report of a ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia, almost always there’s a Filipino involved,” admits Deputy Foreign Minister Esteban Conejos. The comment continues: “Since 2006, a total of 748 Filipinos, in 61 vessels, have been hijacked in this way.”
Recommended Book: Pirate State; Inside Somalia’s Terrorism at Sea December 19, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, mark consulting group, Piracy & Maritime Security, Somalia, West Coast of Africa piracy
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Occasionally I will read a book that I think is worth recommending on this blog. I recently finished Peter Eichstaedt‘s Pirate State; Inside Somalia’s Terrorism at Sea and believe that this is a book that all maritime security professionals with a focus on Africa should read. Compared to many books on Somali piracy it is an objective look at the state of piracy and what fuels the piracy problem in both Somalia as well as the Niger Delta. The author discusses the influence of foreign nations, organized crime, over fishing, and other aspect that are at least partly to blame for the issues in Somalia and the Niger Delta which gave rise to piracy. It is an easy read and provides some very interesting statistics and facts. You can order the book from Amazon.com at this link.
CyberSecurity & Piracy December 17, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in InfoSec & Privacy, Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, combating piracy week, hanson wade, InfoSec, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, mark consulting group, risk management, security, somali pirates
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This past summer I was interviewed by Maritime Executive on the topic of CyberPiracy. The article discussed the need for increased information assurance practices among shipping companies. As shipping companies increasingly turn to armed guards and ships increasingly adopt BMP4, hijackings have decreased. In response the pirates, and those who fund and support the pirates, are looking for new ways to increase their likelihood of successfully hijacking a ship while minimizing the risk to the pirates. Increasingly, pirates are turning to high tech, and not so high tech, solutions. It is an established fact that pirates are using information found on the AIS system as well as GPS and satellite phones to locate and coordinate attacks. Now information is coming forward that the pirates groups are using sources within ports, and shipping companies to identify those vessels that they want to attack. It has been reported that hackers are being employed to steal data related to cargo as well as the user of armed guards. While this topic is too broad to discuss in a blog post, I will begin posting a series of articles on cyber security and steps shipping companies can take to minimize the risk of their data being compromised.
This past Fall, I had the opportunity to speak at Hanson Wade anti-piracy event in London. If you have not attended a Hanson Wade event, they are very worthwhile. I have spoken at literally scores of events over the past 10 years and few, if any, were as well organized. The next event is scheduled for April, 2012 in Hamburg Germany. As luck would have it they have a section on CyberSecurity. Take a look and see if it is worth attending..
Piracy Delaying Food Aid November 4, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, InfoSec, maritime piracy, Piracy & Maritime Security, Somalia
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It is well known that some, if not many, Somali pirates, when hijacking vessels, have claimed to represent the “Somali Coast Guard” and other “Somali Interests”. At the recent Combating Piracy event in London the attendees were told numerous tales about Europeans, Asians, and other who illegally fished the Somali waters and were therefore the cause of the piracy (at least a major cause). While there is little debate that economic issues are the root cause of many Somalis joining the ranks of pirates, piracy is now beginning to adversely affect the very Somalis that many pirates claim to represent. According to an article on CNN, piracy is delaying needed food aid to the Horn of Africa. Over 12 million people in the Horn of Africa require some form of food aid. According to Professor Mthuli Ncube, who fulfills a dual role as the bank’s chief economist and vice president the African Development Bank:
“[Piracy] affects the transit of food quickly, where it’s needed by refugees. It also brings up the costs of transporting the food and it goes beyond that into tourism, into the exploitation of hydro-carbons … the issue around fishing and so forth. But more urgently it is about delivery of food that is being affected.”
Cyber Piracy- Clear and Present Danger (in Maritime Executive) November 2, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, hanson wade, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, somali pirates
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Maritime Executive’s Jack O’Connell published a very good article on cybercrime and its impact on the shipping industry. Recently, Lloyds list also published an article on the same topic. With the shipping industry taking steps to prevent piracy, pirates are turning to technology to gain advantage over the shipping companies. Read the article here.
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 