IBM Works With Port of Los Angeles to Help Secure Maritime Supply Chain

The CRC will be a maritime Security Intelligence and Operations Center (SIOC) to automate threat collaboration and extend its reach beyond traditional maritime stakeholders to Port stakeholders that are more broadly involved in cargo flow.

Alex Stemmer
Alex Stemmer
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IBM Security announced a new agreement with the Port of Los Angeles to design and operate a Port Cyber Resilience Center (CRC). This multiyear agreement is aimed at improving the Port's cybersecurity readiness as well as enhancing threat sharing and collaboration within its supply chain ecosystem. IBM will leverage its leadership in cloud security and automation to deliver technology and expertise that can help Port stakeholders detect and protect against malicious cyber incidents, in a first-of-its-kind initiative for cyber preparedness.

The Port of Los Angeles is in the midst of an infrastructure investment program aimed at raising the bar for cargo efficiency, and it is also focused on new technologies to enhance digital information flow throughout the supply chain. With cyber threats emerging as reality for all industries, the Port is taking proactive steps to enhance its ecosystem's awareness and readiness to respond to cyber threats that could disrupt the flow of cargo.

The CRC will be a maritime Security Intelligence and Operations Center (SIOC) to automate threat collaboration and extend its reach beyond traditional maritime stakeholders to Port stakeholders that are more broadly involved in cargo flow, such cross-sector companies. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to contribute threat data to the CRC as well as benefit from the more extensive and accumulated threat intelligence made available to them through it.

"The Cyber Resilience Center will provide a cutting-edge early warning system to further defend the Port and its stakeholders against cyber threats," said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. "This will result in greater collective knowledge, enhanced data sharing throughout our Port ecosystem, and will help to maintain the flow of critical cargo."

The $6.8 million, three-year agreement with the Port of LA includes IBM Security software and services to design, install, operate and maintain the CRC. The Board recommendation to select IBM was based on a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process conducted by the Port. The new CRC will leverage IBM Cloud Pak for Security, X-Force Threat Intelligence and IBM Security SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) to facilitate automated response playbooks to security events and collaboration amongst Port stakeholders. IBM will also collaborate with TruSTAR to leverage their enterprise intelligence management platform for stakeholders to automate and distribute intelligence among the Port of Los Angeles and Port Stakeholders.

The collaboration with IBM Security will provide the Port of Los Angeles's CRC with cutting edge security technologies and expert services support, including:

  • Threat intelligence. IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence experts bring global and industry threat modelling capabilities to give exclusive maritime threat information. Combined with TruSTAR and Cloud Pak for Security, IBM Security X-Force can apply threat intelligence to systems and individuals for critical decision-making.
  • Automated workflows. IBM Cloud Pak for Security will provide an open security platform to serve as the foundation for CRC activities – allowing them to quickly integrate security tools for deeper intelligence into threats across hybrid cloud environments and respond faster to security incidents. Designed to run in any cloud or on-premise environment and connect openly regardless of the vendor infrastructure, Cloud Pak for Security can automate threat intelligence ingestions from multiple sources, conduct threat analysis and make the anonymized data available to Port stakeholders through a single dashboard that informs their threat awareness and proposed defender actions.
  • Orchestrated responses. IBM Security SOAR can enable teams to codify stakeholders' incident response processes into dynamic playbooks, accelerating and orchestrating their response to a potential security incident. These automated actions can not only help stakeholders understand security threats, they can help prioritize them.

  • SIOC dedicated services and support. IBM will provide on-site Security Intelligence and Operations Center (SIOC) resources and support to manage the CRC and conduct real time threat analysis. IBM's threat analysts and SIOC experts will help onboard each operation and company and manage Cloud Pak for Security across the Port ecosystem, configuring it to run based on each stakeholders' needs.
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