As West Africa Piracy Increase….Naval Forces to Decrease in 2012 October 12, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, gulf of aden, gulf of aden security, InfoSec, Maritime Security, somali pirates
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In what is sure to be a winning combination, piracy in West Africa is increasingly substantially while Lloyds list today published an article indicating that Naval support for anti-piracy efforts will decrease sharply in 2012. It was announced todaythat another vessel was hijacked off the coast of Nigeria. According to the IMB a tanker was hijacked off the coast of Nigeria. A spokesperson for the IMB stated: “The vessel is still under captivity…We believe the crew is still on board,” according to the official of the piracy watchdog, who added that there was “no indication that the crew has been taken away”.
While Somali pirates are becoming increasingly violent and desperate as attacks are thwarted and piracy on the West Coast of Africa is increasing, the international community has seen fit to decrease the presence in high risk waters. Reasons given are austerity measures being enacted as well as the need for vessels to support operations in Libya and other areas in the Middle East and North Africa. Regardless of the reasons, the end result is likely to be the same. Increases in pirate attacks on merchant vessels. It is imperative that ship owners and other stakeholders consider the use of armed guards on their vessels as 2012 is sure to see a marked increase in piracy on both the East and West coasts of Africa.
Italian Ship Feared Hijacked by Somali Pirates October 10, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, InfoSec, Maritime Security, MV Montecristo, Piracy & Maritime Security, somali pirates
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According to reports the Italian vessel the MV Montecristo was under attack by Somali pirates and feared hijacked approximately 620 miles from the Somali coast. ‘We were last in radio contact with the vessel at 6.40 am (0400 GMT) this morning and we fear that the ship may have been hijacked during the intervening 10 hours,” spokesman Alessio Melillo of the Leghorn-based D’Alesio Group told dpa. The Ship’s 23 member crew consists of 7 Italians, 10 Ukranians, and 6 Indian nationals.
Tanzanian Army Arrests 7 in Attempted Pirate Attack October 6, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, InfoSec, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, somali pirates, Somalia
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An article on Oct. 5th, 2011 states that the Tanzanian army arrested 7 pirates after a failed hijacking of an oil exploration ship. The army arrested the 7 after an attempted hijacking of the 
oil exploration ship. The pirates reportedly had 16 rounds of sub-machine gun ammunition and pain killers. According to Tanzanian authorities: “Our navy men opened fire in the air as a warning but the pirates did not surrender and instead fired directly at the soldiers. There was exchange of fire, the pirates were overpowered, and decided to surrender by throwing their weapons in the sea and raised up their arms,” Col. Mgawe said.
The interesting aspect of this story is that the pirates did not flee and instead chose to exchange fire with the soldiers. This once again demonstrates the increasing violence of Somali pirates and their willingness to accept greater risk in their attempts to hijack ships.
Pirates’ Core Competency?- Kidnapping October 3, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security.Tags: Chris Mark, InfoSec, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, Somalia
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I worked for years in the credit card data security industry. There is a saying that credit card fraud cannot be eliminated only shifted. The fact remains that credit card fraud provide too great of a return on investment with little risk for criminals to ”give up” when new technologies are employed to stop one type of fraud. They simply change tactics to obtain the data they can use to perpetrate fraud.
Recently, it was disclosed that another tourist was kidnapped from a beach in Kenya by Somalis. The prevailing belief is that the kidnappers were ‘pirates’. In reality, the pirates we have been seeing off the coast of Somalia are, at their core, kidnappers. When companies began arming vessels and the traditional method of kidnapping their victims became too risky, some began shifting their tactics.
There is both good news and bad news from this change in tactics. The good news is that the efforts of arming vessels and the presence of maritime forces is having some effect on reducing the number of hijackings. This can be seen in the reduction of successful attacks against ships. The downside is that at least pirates have correctly identified that kidnapping is likely where the money can be found and presents less risk than hijackings. In the end we will continue to see the pirates adapting in relation to the increasing security on the vessels.
Privacy, Discrimination, and Facebook September 15, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: anti discrimination, Chris Mark, data security, EEOC, Maritime Security, privacy
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This post is going to deviate from maritime security. I was asked today by a person on Facebook whether someone should provide their Facebook login to a potential employer who asks. In short, a person is applying for a job and the potential employer has asked for the person’s Facebook credentials to view their Facebook account. Let me preface my answer with some background. For the past 10 years I have worked extensively in data security and privacy.
The US, Canada, EU, Japan and most other industrialized nations have laws that prohibit discrimination based upon various aspects such as race, creed, religion, disability, political views, etc. The US is about 10 years behind Europe when it comes to data security laws and privacy laws. An employer that is asking for your Facebook login is exposing themselves to potential liability and is likely infringing upon your rights. Many, if not most people, post private information in their Facebook accounts. Sexuality, marriage status, family, religion, political views, associations which could divulge private information are all commonly posted on Facebook. By asking you for your login, the employer is doing a few things incorrectly. First, they are asking you to violate Facebook policy by providing your personal login to the account. Second, they are placing themselves in a precarious position by removing the non-repudiation from your account. Consider an example where an employer logs into an account and reads something that their employee wrote that is deleterious to the company. Who is to say that the employer did not actually write the post? Since there is a single login there is no way to state definitively that it was the employer. Additionally, by asking for the login, the employer may be given access to personal private information that could expose them to risk should your employment end. If a person is gay, or disabled, or an anarchist, or planning on having children, this is their own business and the company has no right to ask about this information and it is a violation of various laws to discriminate based upon such facts. The US has the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as other laws that protect individual rights. The UK has, among other things, the Disability and Equality Act; 2010, and the EU has the EU Anti Discrimination Law, among others, that protect employees.
The long and short is that if you are asked to provide your Facebook login, you may want to politely inform the potential employer that 1) You have a public facebook profile that they are free to peruse and 2) There is private information in your Facebook account that the employer has no right to ask to see. Their asking may, in itself, be a violation of the privacy laws. Finally, make sure that if you have strong opinions, or lewd photographs, or you curse like a sailor that you don’t post it on your public profile 😉
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 