Emergency Contact Secure State Cyber: Crewmembers' responsibilities for maintaining security of IT systems on board Home Latest updates News Secure State Cyber: Crewmembers' responsibilities for maintaining security of IT systems on board 21 Jun 2019 Download Sign up for alerts In this, the second FAQ article in the cyber risks series, Secure State Cyber highlight the responsibilities of crewmembers in maintaining the security of IT systems on board, safeguarding personal devices and identifying which equipment is most vulnerable on board. What can crewmembers do to protect themselves and the vessel from a cyber-attack? Crew members can take several actions to avoid their vessel becoming compromised: Do not Jailbreak a device: Ensure that the mobile device is updated regularly, and the device is not subject to ‘rooting’ or ‘jailbreaking’. Rooting refers to a process that allows access to an Android device with ‘root’ or ‘system’ privilege, which in turn enables the user to install or make any modifications that they please. Jailbreaking refers to Apple products in the same way. The purpose of these actions is to remove restrictions imposed by the manufacturer or operator, e.g. to allow the installation of unauthorised software. Once a device is rooted or jailbroken, there is an increased chance that the device can have spyware, trojans, rootkits, or other forms of malware installed easily without the owner’s knowledge. Do not plug personal items into the ship’s critical network: Crew members that have access to or manage critical ship systems should not plug personal devices into any of the ports on these management systems or Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs). It is imperative that devices used for accessing and/or managing ship systems are not utilised for web-browsing, social media, internet surfing or personal emails. Each device has a purpose, and their roles should be set out clearly and isolated from any other tasks. Avoid clicking on phishing emails: Phishing