Cyber risk and superyachts - making sure you are ready for the unexpected

Many who choose a superyacht as an important part of their life will, by definition, be people and families who have resources, businesses and commercial affairs that are important to their lifestyle.

Superyachts will be used as a centre for business as well as for holidays and a place to entertain family and friends.  Owners will often have thought about the vulnerability to a physical attack but, in our experience less frequently, have thought about what a cyber-attack might mean for them.

A modern vessel relies on permanent connection to a whole host of systems via the Internet.  These will be relied upon for navigation communications and yacht management to say nothing of the owners need to continue their business activities and keep in touch with others around the clock.

The very nature of a yacht means that it can often be more difficult to ensure the same level of security that would be commonplace in a similar land-based setting.  In any environment conventional antivirus protection is, at best, only partially effective and a malware attack on a yacht systems risks catastrophic damage.  By their very nature, recorded reporting of cyber attacked on superyachts is limited but there are a range of groups with motivations that might lead them to mount such an attack.

Of course, it’s not only malicious attack which needs to be considered, but also the risks associated with an inadvertent attack introduced by a legitimate user of the system.  These might include the ubiquitous USB drive or a whole host of other potential risks introduced by any user of the system.  At the most basic level it’s very easy to gain access to many yacht-based Wi-Fi networks which provides an open door for attack – either purposeful or accidental.

Alongside this many superyacht insurance policies will have a fairly standard cyber attack exclusion clause bracket (CL 380). Whilst this clause is not universal and could, in some respects, be open to challenge – it adds to the potential problems faced by owners and operators.  The last thing that an owner who has suffered an attack wants to hear, is that their losses are not insured.

Our advice to clients is very clear.  As a first step you should ensure that there has been a recent security review of all cyber related systems on your vessel.  There are a number of reputable specialist operators who can be trusted to carry out such work.

Alongside that, ensuring that your yacht insurance covers you appropriately for the sorts of risks that are faced in the modern world is vital and is an area on which we are often asked to advise our clients.