Fortinet, the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, and Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., a global leader in maritime shipbuilding, have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for mutual cooperation in the maritime cybersecurity of ships.

The MOU signing ceremony was held at Fortinet Korea’s Customer Briefing Centre with representatives from both companies, including Won-Kyun Cho, country manager, Korea, Fortinet, and Michael Murphy, director, operational technology and critical infrastructure, APAC, Fortinet, as well as Jong-Ung Choi, director, Autonomous Ship Research Centre, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Kyungwon Bae, group manager, smart solution research group/Autonomous Ship Research Centre, Samsung Heavy Industries.

Samsung Heavy Industries has accumulated differentiated technological competency and turnkey manufacturing capabilities in the shipbuilding and marine business fields, and possesses topside design and construction capabilities, which are the core of maritime development facilities.

In April 2022, the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) adopted UR E26 and E27 to protect ships from internal and external cyber threats and ensure the safety of ship operations as cyber threats such as hacking and ransomware against ships increased.

UR E26 aims to ensure the secure integration of both operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) equipment into the vessel’s network during the design, construction, commissioning, and operational life of the ship. UR E27 aims to ensure system integrity is secured and hardened by third-party equipment suppliers. These unified requirements (URs) will be applied to new ships contracted for construction on and after July 01, 2024, as mandatory requirements.

Through their agreement, the two companies plan to collaborate on enhancing maritime cybersecurity to comply with the new security regulations of the IACS. In addition, they will cooperate to broaden the base of the cybersecurity market and expand the application of future leading technologies in the maritime field, such as network segmentation and OT protocol-based security services, onshore remote monitoring and control, and autonomous ships.

Fortinet plans to support on designing well-hardened maritime cybersecurity with Fortinet platform solutions, solution optimisation to operate in maritime environment, and training for Fortinet products. Fortinet will be supporting the strengthening of OT security for ships built by Samsung Heavy Industries to fully meet the new UR E26 and E27 mandatory requirements. The Fortinet OT Security Platform as an extension of the enterprise Security Fabric, provides solutions and services for OT protection across the entire Purdue model, from sensors to cloud, securing asset and network visibility, network separation, endpoint protection, authentication and permission management for zero trust access, threat detection and defence technology, and security operation centre (SOC)/network operations centre (NOC) security operation. Based on its OT security expertise and global leadership, Fortinet will contribute to ensuring the cyber resilience of new ships and for the cybersecurity of onboard systems and equipment built by Samsung Heavy Industries.

Jong-Ung Choi, director, Autonomous Ship Research Center, Samsung Heavy Industries, said, “As cyber-issues on ships increase, cybersecurity is becoming an essential element of ship construction and operation. Samsung Heavy Industries will expand its cybersecurity leadership in the ship manufacturing industry by establishing an innovative system for OT security during ship construction and increasing the cyber resilience of ships through close cooperation with Fortinet, a global leader in the OT security field.”

Michael Murphy, director, operational technology and critical infrastructure, APAC, Fortinet, said, “Through this cooperation, we will strengthen the global support system and cooperation in the maritime cybersecurity sector and actively support Samsung Heavy Industries in securing a technical foundation to comply with the new security regulations of the IACS. In addition, Fortinet will continue to expand the scope of its OT business and aim to strengthen OT security and digital innovation for the maritime cybersecurity industry.”