Why Transportation Cybersecurity is a Team Sport

June 27, 2023

When it comes to protecting internal data and systems from hackers, security relies on all of us working together. Transportation cybersecurity threats are everywhere and constantly evolving. No industry is less a target than any other. If a cybercriminal can find a way in, they’ll take it.

Supply chains rely on a tremendous amount of moving parts, and a single security breach of one stakeholder could halt the entire operation.

And security incidents are on the rise and increasingly becoming more expensive. The average total cost of a data breach is $4.35 million. That doesn’t include the cost of reputational damage and the potential loss of future business. Your customer wants their package delivered today, and a transportation cybersecurity event that prevents delivery doesn’t instill confidence.

From 2008 to 2022, we have seen data breaches go from just several a year to thousands. Many incidents still go unreported. According to a Gartner survey of 499 supply chain leaders:

“By 2025, 60% of supply chain organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a significant determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements.”

Future contracts between partners will more often include language to enforce cybersecurity standards and detailed audit structures to ensure compliance. Those companies that fail to prioritize cybersecurity in transportation put themselves at risk of criminal activity.

Cyberattack victims risk losing business when they are unable to meet the standards required by logistics partners.

Information Security Goes Beyond the Data Center

Many SaaS companies depend on their hosting providers for transportation cybersecurity practices, but it’s insufficient. Vigilant security practices must extend to the individual’s desktop and be a daily ritual.

That report from your application provider that says, “We’re secure!” isn’t enough. The scope of cybersecurity needs to extend beyond your provider’s servers.

How To Protect Yourself and Your Partners

A strong identity and access management plan is crucial to protecting your data. The components of an identity and access management plan include:

Strong passwords: The longer the password, the better. Use a passphrase consisting of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, ideally over 12 characters long.
Use SSO: A single sign-on authentication scheme protects users by logging them into multiple applications simultaneously with a single ID.
Enable 2FA: Two-factor authentication, which uses something on your person (like your cell phone or biological identifiers) as an additional verification, should be used with your SSO provider.
Don’t reuse passwords: Ensuring work and private accounts use different passwords is especially important.
Protect your TMS: Make sure that complex passwords are used with your transportation management system if you are not using SSO.
Don’t click on that email: If an email is suspicious or unexpected, don’t open it and contact your IT team.
Know how to identify phishing: Educate your organization on how to identify phishing attacks and protect their credentials.
Use a secure mail gateway: Using a gateway in addition to your email provider’s native tools filters out malicious email content before it reaches company systems.
Keep systems updated: Simply applying the latest patches to your systems keeps your organization safe.

How Does MercuryGate Keep Our Platform Secure?

MercuryGate prioritizes information security and invests to meet the highest standards. Our platform is independently accredited to meet ISO 27001 standards and has been recertified annually since 2016. One hundred fourteen separate controls protect people, processes, and technology.

In addition to meeting ISO 27001 standards, the MercuryGate platform is SOC 1 and SOC 2 compliant, meeting Type II standards to ensure the design and operating effectiveness of controls meet AICPA standards. These certifications are recertified annually by a third party through testing against security, availability, and confidentiality criteria.

MercuryGate goes beyond the certifications, keeping the platform secure by:

Using only industry-recognized cloud service providers.
Providing our users with annual security training, monthly security refreshers, and targeted phishing tests.
Leveraging next-generation advanced endpoint protection to protect against zero-day exploits.
Providing a dedicated 24/7 security operations center to monitor for anomalies.
Regular software security reviews, including static and dynamic testing and manual penetration testing.
Employing a vulnerability management program to monitor proactively and resolve zero-day vulnerabilities.

Our approach is nothing less than “the best of the best” when protecting the data entrusted to us.

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Let’s Protect Each Other

Data security goes far beyond the server in the data center. MecuryGate’s Transportation Data Security eBook prepares you to defend your organization and fragile supply chains.

Download a copy of the eBook today.