Page 30: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2017)

Thought Leadership on Cyber Security

James Espino President Gnostech

The president of Gnostech weighs in on the trends in combating the plague of the industry.

Please tell us your background.

I was a career Coast Guard Of? cer until I retired in 2013. Upon retiring from the Coast Guard I joined Gnoste- ch as the Chief Operating Of? cer and became President in late 2014. The majority of my career was spent in either maritime law enforcement and defense operations or as a specialist in the Coast Guard’s technology community primarily working in and around command, control, com- munications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnais- sance systems development or procurement.

For our readers not familiar, please describe Gnostech in a sentence or two.

We’ve been in business since 1981, primarily as a

Department of Defense technology company. Gnostech

Inc. is an applied engineering and consulting company with capabilities in the following areas: cybersecurity and information assurance, secure software development, sys- tems engineering, and GPS engineering. We serve cus- tomers in the maritime and defense industries, particularly the U.S. Navy, and we are headquartered in the Philadel- phia, PA metro area with an of? ce in San Diego, CA.

Cyber Security obviously tops many corporate agen- das today. When I say “Cyber Security”, what does that word mean to you?

Cyber security is a term being used today to cover a wide variety of functions, but in most communities it primarily means protecting information and systems from major cyber threats, both internal of external.

It is also an emerging issue for the maritime industry.

Not only would a maritime cyberattack have serious eco- nomic repercussions, but also environmental and national security implications. Many ask why there is an increase.

There are many factors, including outdated software, hu- man error, lack of knowledge, increasing sophistication of global cyberattacks, and more highly interconnected systems and a greater reliance on automation.

30 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2017

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