Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2016)

The Commandant on the Arctic

We’ve met with industry and they are keenly incentivized to build the heavy icebreakers here in the United States.

So I’m much more optimistic today than I was two years ago when I start looking at our future, and more importantly, if we’re an

Arctic nation, our ability to say more than words but match that with our deeds, as well. It’s as imperative that we do exert U.S. in? uence in this domain, but we cannot do it from the shore – we must be operating in this domain, as well.

Coast Guard Photo

Okay. So in looking at the cyber threat, can you saying, ‘So, Coast Guard, you approve life jackets, discuss with me how the Coast Guard is invest- ? ares, and life-saving equipment, what can you do ing to address this growing threat? On the ? ip- about cyber?’ We’re working across all the indus- side, how is the Coast Guard using cyber capa- try and really trying to share these best guidelines, bilities to do its mission more ef? ciently? not as “law” or “regulation,” but really guidelines that is in everyone’s mutual best interest, and rec- We rolled out a cyber strategy almost a ognizing that cyber is an evolving threat.

year ago. First we need to defend our network; hardening our defenses so others can’t penetrate Switching gears to the Arctic: For our read- it. (Second) is using it in an offense manner. So ers who are not in the know, can you discuss how do you use cyber offensively? Well, one, we in detail the current plan, the time frame, to take the “search” out of “rescue.” If someone has accelerate the current acquisition of the heavy a distress beacon using cyber, we know where icebreaker, and the plan for additional ice they are. And the third strand of this is how do breakers?

we protect our maritime transportation system against cyber threats. In this capacity, I represent In our president’s budgets request for the United States at the International Maritime Or- 2017, there’s about $150 million set aside that ganization general assembly. So as we’re looking gets us out of the starting blocks (in the need to at international standards for cyber best practices, recapitalize our icebreakers). Human activity is if you will, in the maritime domain. clearly on the uptick up in the Arctic. A cruise ship

Over the last ? ve or six years there have been will transit through the Bering Strait across the mobile offshore drilling units in the Gulf of Mexi- Northwest Passage with 1,600 people embarked co that have driven off the drill site due to malware in an area that’s not charted to modern day stan- that was introduced into their control systems, dards. The starting price for most of those tick- where they lost a signal to stay within a swing ets is around $20,000, so a pretty lucrative mar- 795 Marconi Avenue • Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 USA circle. So they literally drove off the well site, and ket if you’re in the cruise shipping industry. We

TEL: (631) 737-1500 • FAX: (631) 737-1497 www.retlif.com when that happens, the only thing to prevent a ma- anticipate there will be more such activity. What jor oil spill is the blowout preventer. And in each we could not anticipate was the rapid reduction

NEW YORK • NEW HAMPSHIRE • PENNSYLVANIA

WASHINGTON D.C. • NORTH CAROLINA of the cases, the blowout preventer worked. in price per barrel of oil. So it went from $110 a

So industry is now turning to the Coast Guard, barrel, roughly two years ago, to today it’s barely www.marinelink.com 45

MR #5 (42-49).indd 45 5/2/2016 10:31:42 AM