By: Joshua Finley
Safety is a word that gets thrown around quite a bit in the trucking industry, but it almost always refers to ways to prevent physical accidents out on the road. Very few people think about the consequences of using large amounts of computer networking infrastructure to track vehicles. Most trucking lines have connected a majority of their workflows to the web, but they seldom invest much time or money into preventing breaches.
One survey found that a small percentage of operators felt that they were prepared to deal with any kind of ransomware attack. Firms that have all of their drivers’ logs and customer data stored in the cloud are going to run into major problems if their storage networks are ever compromised.
Perhaps the premier place to start revising online habits is by enforcing two-factor authentication on all internal sites and applications. Making both shippers and drivers log in with a password and some other method can ensure that their information remains private even if account credentials ever get stolen. Consult with national logistics standards organizations for more information about the premier way to roll out a 2FA system. These groups monitor the current cybersecurity environment and make regular recommendations.
Installing new monitoring equipment helps to keep tabs on any vehicles that deviate from their planned route. Business managers have used dedicated GPS receivers to watch any members of their fleet that may have been compromised. Stealing digital credentials can often translate into the theft of physical assets, thus making this a major part of any modern cybersecurity program. Dispatchers should also reach out to truckers using more than one form of communication if at all possible.
Mobile telephony and conventional citizen’s band radio systems work best when they’re used side-by-side, but everyone in an organization needs to clearly understand the security pitfalls of working with either technology. Encrypted handsets are safer than garden-variety cell phones, but there’s still the possibility that someone could crack into one. Anything sent over a CB radio could theoretically be heard by every single individual nearby who has a good quality digital utility scanner, so sensitive information shouldn’t ever get shared over it.
Traditional security techniques are of particular importance for trucking companies that have migrated banking and payroll workflows over to a cloud-based environment. For instance, credentials tied to employees who no longer work for a specific company should be invalidated as quickly as possible. Accounts that nobody logged into for more than a month or two should also expire so that bad actors can’t hijack them later on.
Scammers will sometimes pose as legitimate trucking line customers, which can prove tricky to deal with. The more confident and skilled ones could potentially talk someone out of important details. Spend some extra time training employees and showing them all of the premier practices for dealing with computer security issues.
While it may cause some delays in the short term, this investment is likely to simplify processes and improve outcomes in the future.
Published by: Nelly Chavez
