A Norwegian maritime risk management business is getting a lesson in that very area, after a ransomware attack forced its ShipManager software offline and left 1,000 ships without a connection to on-shore servers.

DNV said the attack happened on January 7, and updated its report yesterday to say it involved ransomware – but affected vessels are not in any danger and can still operate normally, it added.

DNV claims “More than 7,000 vessels owned by 300 customers” use ShipManager, and some 1,000 ships owned by 70 customers were affected by this attack.

DNV didn’t state which ransomware actor was behind the attack, whether it was negotiating with the attacker, what demands may have been made or if it planned to pay them.

In its Fall 2022 threat report, Trellix explained that in the US alone ransomware attacks against the shipping and transportation sector had doubled from the second to the third quarter of 2022.

Globally, Trellix said, the transportation sector was among the most active for ransomware attacks behind telecommunications.