Cyberattacks on the maritime industry’s operational technology systems have increased by 900% over the last three years with the number of reported incidents set to reach record volumes by year-end, according to Israeli cybersecurity specialist Naval Dome.

Addressing port and terminal operators during an online forum last week, Robert Rizika, Naval Dome’s Boston-based Head of North American Operations, explained that in 2017 there were 50 significant OT hacks reported, increasing to 120 in 2018 and more than 310 last year. He said this year is looking like it will end with more than 500 major cyber security breaches, with substantially more going unreported.