Freight News, IT, Sea


AI exposes shipping to cyber-scammers

[ March 2, 2026   //   ]

The  speed with which the global maritime industry is adopting AI is leaving it open to autonomous cyber-attacks that will be almost impossible to detect before it’s too late, according to a new report by maritime cyber-security specialist Cydome.

In a research paper, it says that new data shows that up to 60% of all newly disclosed software vulnerabilities on ship, onshore and offshore are being weaponised within 48 hours as hackers also begin to use AI to accelerate attacks.

In 2018, the average time from new software vulnerabilities being published to an actual  attack was 63 days; by 2024, it had fallen to five days and today, AI tools have reduced the hacking window to less than 48 hours, with many systems being targeted within just 15 minutes of a system flaw being detected.

Tetsuji Madarame, , a maritime and logistics expert and former head of digital transformation and innovation at NYK Line, says that as AI moves rapidly from a generative to agentic and physical model, expanding capabilities into autonomous navigation and optimal fleet operations, “protecting AI-related assets must be a top priority.”

The research paper indicates that  87% of organisations now view AI-related vulnerability as the fastest-growing risk, highlighting a dangerous collapse in the traditional security response window. While the technology streamlines operations, it also enables the nefarious to carry out “flawless deception”.

 It also notes that 83% of phishing emails already use AI to target multi-national crews in their native language, and in a way that instantly establishes trust. This has led to a 1600% surge in voice phishing (vishing), where AI clones the speech pattern  of executives to authorise fraudulent transactions.

In a one incident, attackers used a deepfake audio clone of the chief financial officer of a European energy major to instruct staff to carry out an urgent wire transfer for US$25 million.

In another incident, a $200,000 crew compensation payment was diverted using an AI-based email interceptor to a criminal’s own account rather than to the family of the deceased seafarer.

The full report is available at https://cydome.io/cydome-maritime-trends-report-2026/

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