Bureau Veritas (BV) has formed a partnership with insurance consultancy BESSÉ to support shipowners with tailored solutions to improve cyber security and cyber insurance.
This partnership will see the two parties combine their complementary expertise to help shipping stakeholders manage the risk of cyber attacks, which have risen in recent years.
BV helps shipowners and operators develop and implement an effective cyber security strategy on ships and ashore. To this end, BV has developed a set of rules (NR 659), which make up a framework for assessing maritime cyber security. This framework enables BV to assess the level of cyber risk for shipowners/operators and to recommend organisational, technical and procedural measures to reduce this risk to an acceptable level.
This process includes conducting a complete inventory of equipment, systems and networks connected at sea and on land; conducting a cyber risk analysis to identify vulnerable systems and equipment; developing and implementing a cyber risk management policy; ensuring the effective implementation of technical and organisational procedures; enabling shipowners/operators to ensure compliance with IMO cyber security requirements; and validating the management of cyber risk on board through an additional class notation.
BESSÉ then responds to the identified risks through insurance solutions, by helping shipowners transfer part of the cyber risk to insurers. As many insurance companies now require their clients to demonstrate high standards for cyber risk management, BESSÉ builds on the results of the systems optimisation achieved though BV’s rules to assist its clients in presenting these risks to insurers.
