The IMO said on Twitter: “The interruption of service was caused by a cyber attack against our IT systems. IMO is working with UN (United Nations) IT and security experts to restore systems as soon as possible, identify the source of the attack, and further enhance security systems to prevent recurrence.”

At the time of writing the IMO’s website remained unavailable with a message that it was “under maintenance”. Some document and publication services remained active.

It is the second cyber attack on a shipping organisation this week with the world’s third largest container line CMA CGM hit with malware that forced it to take its e-commerce systems off line and resulted in a suspected data breach.

From 2021 cyber security will be part of the IMO’s safety management systems for shipping, a regulatory change that also referred to as IMO 2021.

Source: seatrade