I am glad that you find my post amusing. I do object to your insinuation that I am either downplaying or am ignorant to the fact that the transportation sector is a large target of attack. That angle is beneath you. I do not discount the security risks of cyber attacks obviously, and your long post outlines those risks well.
Having said that:
- The ship had routine maintenance before leaving port.
- The power went out twice leaving the ship without ability to use its rudder. It was most likely locked in its last position prior to losing power.
- The port anchor went into the water to try to slow down/offset the current heading.
There are concerns that 1) the ship might have had prior equipment problems and 2) there might have been contaminated fuel loaded into the tank before heading off. #1 might explain why there was maintenance before the voyage. #2 might explain why the power went out. Heck it could have been both #1 and #2.
Cyber attacks are generally aimed at either gathering information or directly controlling/damaging software or hardware. There was no direct control here. It was a power outage with a human response. The sheer absurdity thinking someone would have the knowledge beforehand of the precise steering conditions of the channel, the precise timing of causing a blackout that would yield the desired result, the precise knowledge of the position of the rudder before the power cuts, and the knowledge/timing of the human response due to the power being cut is what I find amusing.
What are the odds of that all panning out perfectly?
If it was an attack whereby all of that knowledge was known beforehand, why not go all out and kill a lot of Americans by doing it during rush hour with another ship?
What do you think is more likely? Hardware malfunction and terrible timing or Mission Impossible?
Finally, there's this fun fact: The Dali was previously involved in a minor incident when it hit a quay at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, where it was damaged, according to Vessel Finder and maritime accident site Shipwrecklog.
32 currently and it just started snowing 10~15 minutes ago! Hopefully there's some decent accumulation when I wake up, but I'm sure there won't be. Just a trace currently which is not sticking to concrete yet..
14 day looking fairly solid; some rain, some sun and basically climo-ish temps. Thunderstorms and hail yesterday were pretty sweet, maybe we can get a couple more in April.
Your post is amusing. We do live in a world where there are a lot of bad actors. Granted immediately jumping to the conclusion that it has to be a bad actor is out of hand, but I think it should always be at least a part of the discussion. Hopefully, 9.9 times out of 10 it is a 30 second to 2 minute discussion (literally) and then the subject is put to bed and investigators move on.
We of course know that terrorism is very real. Cyber attacks are also very real.
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/attack-colonial-pipeline-what-weve-learned-what-weve-done-over-past-two-years
https://www.aha.org/news/perspective/2024-02-29-supporting-hospitals-and-patients-after-cyberattack-change-healthcare
https://www.securityweek.com/canadas-rcmp-global-affairs-hit-by-cyberattacks/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-06/dutch-intelligence-blames-chinese-state-for-cyber-espionage-in-the-netherlands
Here is a fun little list for you (some of the ones above are in this list:
https://www.csis.org/programs/strategic-technologies-program/significant-cyber-incidents
I could not find anything of machinery or equipment being "hijacked" yet, but I have no doubt they are trying to figure it out.
Did you know that this is happening?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2024/03/12/your-driving-data-may-be-sold-to-insurers-general-motors-reveals/?sh=45c7451856ef
Some automakers already download software over wifi/cellular, and I believe Telsa is a major user of that functionality. I believe commercial aircraft can download their flight plans wirelessly.
With that being said, please tell me how there is no risk of modes of transportation potentially being corrupted by a bad actor.
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