Posted on February 25, 2026
Today’s maritime sector is navigating more than oceans, it is navigating an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape. As smart ships become the new standard, data traffic for real-time performance monitoring, predictive maintenance and remote operations has surged exponentially.
Yet this hyper-connectivity is a double-edged sword: the same technologies driving efficiency and innovation are simultaneously expanding the industry’s attack surface.
According to the report, compared to 2024, the number of maritime cyber incidents in 2025 surged by 103%, emerging as a critical threat to maritime safety. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), ransomware, and malware infections account for the majority of these attacks, with their growth rate more than doubling over the past year.
Key regional dynamics of maritime cyber threats
The Middle East – Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf
Geopolitical tensions in this region remain exceptionally high. Recently, there has been a frequent discovery of GPS spoofing tactics used against oil tankers. These attacks manipulate the vessel’s systems to show the ship as being within a specific country’s territorial waters, even when it is actually navigating in international waters. Such tactics are strategically employed to create a pretext for forcibly halting or seizing the vessel.
Asia – Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea
As a global hub for maritime trade, this region is increasingly targeted by “Cyber Pirates.” Unlike traditional pirates who launched indiscriminate attacks, modern perpetrators now hack into shipping company networks to conduct reconnaissance. By identifying which vessels are carrying high-value cargo and determining the exact number of onboard security personnel, they select and strike their targets with surgical precision.
Europe – Baltic Sea and the Black Sea Coast
Driven by the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and other regional conflicts, widespread electronic interference has become a daily occurrence in this area. Commercial vessels passing through these waters frequently experience sudden GPS outages or find their location data displaced by hundreds of kilometers. These disruptions have become a direct cause of maritime accidents.
Global major hub ports – Rotterdam, Los Angeles, Busan, etc.
Large-scale port terminals are prime targets for ransomware. Attackers encrypt Terminal Operating Systems (TOS) to completely halt container loading and unloading operations, subsequently demanding exorbitant ransoms. This is because the paralyzation of even a single major port can trigger a severe bottleneck effect across the entire global supply chain.
Evolution of cyber attacks in the maritime industry
Cyberattacks on the maritime industry are unfolding along two primary axes:
- direct attacks aimed at seizing physical control of vessels and
- supply chain attacks designed to paralyze the broader maritime ecosystem.
In particular, as the digitization of ships increases the integration points between satellite communications and OT (Operational Technology) systems, attack patterns that were previously limited to simple data theft are now evolving into destructive forms that disrupt actual navigation or trigger catastrophic physical incidents.
