Security for Ports and Terminals: the anatomy of a ransomware attack that halts container handling
Ports and terminals are critical nodes of Brazilian foreign trade. When the OT network that commands cranes, RTGs, and the yard management system is compromised, the physical operation stops and the entire logistics chain seizes up. See how Decripte contains, recovers, and structures the security of this environment.
Direct answer
To protect a port or terminal against ransomware and attacks on cargo handling, Decripte recommends four simultaneous fronts: rigorously segment the IT network (administrative, customs, and ERP systems) from the OT network (crane PLCs, RTGs, yard management systems/TOS, weighbridges, and automated gates) with industrial firewalls and demilitarized zones (DMZ-OT) following the zones and conduits model of IEC 62443; maintain a 24x7 SOC actively monitoring both domains with event correlation and lateral movement detection; have Incident Response under contract with a containment SLA of up to 1 hour and isolation runbooks that preserve the safe physical operation of the equipment; and ensure continuous compliance (LGPD, ISO 27001, and, when payment card data is handled in the port operation, PCI-DSS) with vulnerability management and recurring pentests. The critical point is that stopping a terminal is not just an IT loss: it means a ship in demurrage, a container stuck in the yard, customs clearance frozen, and disruption across the entire foreign-trade logistics chain. The OT segmentation architecture, system redundancy, and continuous monitoring are what turn a ransomware attack from a "multi-day shutdown" into an "incident contained in hours".
24/7
SOC monitoring the terminal's IT and OT
<=1h
Containment SLA in Incident Response
IEC 62443
Zones and conduits model for port OT
LGPD + ISO 27001
Compliance that clients and insurers require
In summary
- ›A terminal's number-one risk is not a data breach: it is operational unavailability. A ransomware attack that encrypts the TOS (Terminal Operating System) or paralyzes the network that commands cranes and ship-to-shore gantries interrupts the physical movement of containers, generates ship demurrage, and freezes customs clearance.
- ›Most attacks come in through IT (email, exposed RDP, VPN without MFA, a compromised supplier) and migrate to OT due to a lack of segmentation. Real separation between administrative and industrial networks, with a DMZ-OT and the zones and conduits model of IEC 62443, is the most decisive defense.
- ›Without a 24x7 SOC, the time between initial compromise and ransomware detonation (days to weeks) goes unnoticed. Decripte monitors IT and OT continuously and hunts for the signs of lateral movement before encryption.
- ›Incident Response with a containment SLA of up to 1 hour and runbooks specific to the port environment is what separates an incident lasting hours from a shutdown lasting days with multimillion-dollar losses.
- ›Reliable recovery depends on segmented, immutable, and tested backups, plus golden images of the TOS servers and the customs integration systems. A backup the attacker can encrypt is not a backup.
- ›Port security is also compliance: LGPD for data on people and cargo, ISO 27001 for the management system, and PCI-DSS when card processing is part of the operation. Clients, shipping lines, and insurers have come to demand evidence.
Cibersegurança para Gaming
Ports and terminals are critical nodes of Brazilian foreign trade. When the OT network that commands cranes, RTGs, and the yard management system is compromised, the physical operation stops and the entire logistics chain seizes up. See how Decripte contains, recovers, and structures the security of this environment.
Why ports and terminals have become a priority target
Ports and terminals are, literally, the physical bottlenecks of foreign trade. The overwhelming majority of the country's import and export volume passes through Brazilian port infrastructure, and every hour of operation represents containers handled, ships berthed within a contracted window, and perishable or high-value cargo in transit. This concentration of value and logistical dependence is exactly what makes the sector attractive to ransomware groups: the attacker knows the pressure to pay the ransom is enormous, because every day of downtime costs demurrage, contractual penalties, lost berthing windows, and disruption across entire supply chains that depend on that terminal.
What has changed in recent years is the convergence between the digital and physical worlds. Modern terminals operate with a Terminal Operating System (TOS) that orchestrates berth allocation, yard planning, the handling sequence, and integration with quay cranes (ship-to-shore gantries), rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTG) and rail-mounted ones (RMG), as well as automated gate systems, container OCR, weighbridges, license-plate reading, and integration with the Federal Revenue Service and other consenting agencies. All of this depends on networks, servers, and PLCs. When that digital layer goes down, the physical layer stops with it: the crane does not receive the move order, the truck does not clear the gate, customs clearance is not released.
The attack that matters is the one that stops the operation
In terminals, the worst-case scenario is rarely a data breach. It is unavailability. A ransomware attack that encrypts the TOS, the yard database servers, and the customs integration systems interrupts the physical movement of cargo. From that point on, the damage clock counts in hours: a ship in demurrage, a congested yard, containers held up, and foreign-trade clients with no forecast for release.
There is also a specifically port-related vector: container fraud and diversion. Cargo release systems, pickup PINs, gate authorizations, and integrations with customs brokers are targets for manipulation. Compromising the layer that decides which container leaves with which authorization enables the diversion of high-value cargo, smuggling, and customs fraud. Port security, therefore, is not just about availability: it is about the integrity of the systems that control who takes what.
The threat map of a container terminal
The five risks that keep the operation up at night
A port's attack surface combines the worst of both worlds: the complexity of a corporate IT network (email, ERP, HR, financial systems, integrations with clients and suppliers) and the fragility of an industrial OT environment full of legacy systems, protocols without authentication, and equipment that cannot simply be restarted or updated at any time. Decripte treats each of the vectors below as a concrete defense scenario, with detection and response designed for it.
Threat vectors mapped for the port sector
- ✓Ransomware paralyzing terminals: encryption of the TOS, the yard databases, and the integration servers, with a total halt of physical handling.
- ✓Attacks on cargo-handling OT: manipulation or denial of service against PLCs and control systems for cranes, RTG/RMG, gates, and weighbridges.
- ✓Compromise of customs systems: attacks on integrations with the Federal Revenue Service and consenting agencies, causing clearance to freeze or be tampered with.
- ✓Container fraud and diversion: manipulation of pickup authorizations, release PINs, and gate records to divert cargo.
- ✓Unavailability of the port operation: DDoS, cascading failure, and single dependencies without redundancy that bring down the entire terminal.
The element connecting nearly all these scenarios is the bridge between IT and OT. In more incidents than one might imagine, the attacker does not directly break into the crane's control system. They enter through corporate IT, via a phishing email that delivers credentials, an internet-exposed RDP, a VPN without MFA, or a compromised maintenance supplier. From that entry point, they perform reconnaissance, escalate privileges, and look for the path to the network that controls the operation. Where there is no segmentation, that path is short.
OT does not tolerate the classic IT playbook
In IT, the standard response to a compromised host is to isolate and shut down. In port OT, shutting down the wrong server can mean freezing a crane with a suspended container or interrupting a gate with trucks in line. That is why Incident Response needs runbooks that account for physical safety and operational continuity, not just logical containment.
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IT/OT segmentation: the defense that most reduces impact
If there were a single measure to highlight in a terminal's security, it would be real segmentation between the IT network and the OT network. Most ransomware attacks that stop physical operations only manage to reach the industrial layer because the two networks are flat, interconnected without control, sharing the same Active Directory domain, the same administrative credentials, and the same network paths. Breaking that continuity is what turns an IT compromise into a contained scare rather than a total shutdown.
Decripte structures this separation following the zones and conduits model of IEC 62443, the international standard for the security of industrial automation and control systems, complemented by the level logic of the Purdue model. In practice, this means defining trust zones (corporate, industrial DMZ, supervision/SCADA, control/PLC, process) and rigorously controlling every conduit between them. No traffic crosses from IT to OT without passing through an intermediate DMZ-OT, with industrial firewalls that understand automation protocols, traffic inspection, and the golden rule: OT never initiates unnecessary outbound connections and IT never reaches a PLC directly.
The principle: compromising IT must not grant access to OT
The architectural goal is that, even if an attacker fully dominates the terminal's administrative network, they hit an insurmountable barrier before the layer that commands cranes, RTGs, and gates. Segmentation, DMZ-OT, separate accounts, absence of transitive trust, and dedicated monitoring of each conduit make that barrier something real, not just a network diagram.
Beyond the macro segmentation between IT and OT, microsegmentation is applied within OT itself: the ship-to-shore gantry network does not need to talk to the weighbridge network, which does not need to talk to the gate OCR system. Each operational cell is isolated so that an infection in one piece of equipment does not spread horizontally to all the others. This lateral containment is what prevents a single compromised point from bringing down the entire terminal.
Pillars of the OT segmentation architecture in ports
- ✓Zones and conduits per IEC 62443, mapped onto the levels of the Purdue model.
- ✓A mandatory DMZ-OT between the corporate network and the industrial network, with no direct path.
- ✓Industrial firewalls with automation-protocol awareness and restrictive rules by default.
- ✓Microsegmentation between OT cells (quay, yard, gates, weighbridges, OCR).
- ✓Separate accounts and directory for IT and OT, with no shared administrative credentials.
- ✓Remote supplier access via a controlled broker, with MFA, session recording, and maintenance windows.
24x7 SOC: seeing the attack before encryption
Ransomware does not detonate the minute it gets in. Between the initial compromise and mass encryption there is a window, often of days or weeks, in which the attacker performs reconnaissance, harvests credentials, escalates privileges, disables defenses, identifies and tries to destroy backups, and moves laterally toward the most critical systems. That window is the opportunity for defense. Those with continuous visibility detect it; those without it only discover the attack when the screens display the ransom note and the cranes stop.
Decripte's 24x7 SOC monitors both domains of the terminal simultaneously. In IT, it correlates events from email, endpoints, identity, remote access, and network traffic in search of successful phishing, anomalous use of privileged accounts, lateral movement tools, and exfiltration. In OT, monitoring is designed for the industrial environment: passive traffic detection so as not to interfere with the control systems, a baseline of the normal behavior of the PLCs and the TOS servers, and alerts for any command, connection, or configuration change outside the expected pattern.
Why the internal operation alone is not enough
Port operations run in three shifts, on weekends and holidays, exactly when attackers prefer to act, counting on reduced vigilance. An external 24x7 SOC ensures that at 3 a.m. on a Sunday there are analysts following the terminal's alerts, with playbooks ready and a direct path to trigger Incident Response.
The value of the SOC lies not just in generating alerts, but in turning them into action. Decripte works with detection prioritized by asset criticality: an anomalous signal on the TOS server or in the DMZ-OT receives immediate treatment, because that is the heart of the operation. Correlating IT and OT events makes it possible to pinpoint the dangerous moment exactly, when a compromise that started in corporate email begins to approach the industrial network, and to act before the bridge is crossed.
Incident Response in a port environment
When detection becomes incident confirmation, the speed and precision of the response define the size of the loss. Decripte offers Incident Response with a containment SLA of up to 1 hour, but in a terminal containment cannot be blind. Isolating the wrong segment can freeze a piece of equipment in motion or interrupt the operation unsafely. That is why the runbooks are built together with the port's operations team, mapping in advance what can be isolated immediately, what requires a controlled and orderly shutdown, and what needs to preserve physical safety before any logical action.
Containment without a plan is costly both ways
Containing too fast without understanding the operational dependency can stop the terminal out of excessive caution. Containing too slowly lets the ransomware spread into OT. The balance only exists when there are ready runbooks, defined roles, and pre-agreed decisions before the incident, not improvised during the chaos.
Decripte's Incident Response covers the full cycle: containment to stop the spread and preserve what is still healthy; forensic investigation to understand how the attacker got in, where they moved, and what they touched; eradication to remove persistence, compromised credentials, and malicious artifacts; and recovery to bring the systems back up safely, in the right order, without reintroducing the threat. Everything documented for the incident report, which supports regulatory obligations and communication with clients, shipping lines, and insurers.
The customs factor
In terminals, recovery is not only technical. Restoring the integration with the Federal Revenue Service and the consenting agencies, validating that no clearance was tampered with, and reconciling the physical state of the yard with the logical state of the TOS are critical steps. Releasing the wrong cargo after an incident creates fraud and liability. Decripte treats reconciliation as part of the response, not as a post-recovery detail.
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Reliable recovery: backups the attacker cannot encrypt
The difference between paying a ransom and recovering on your own lies, almost always, in the quality of the backups. Modern ransomware groups do not just encrypt production data: they actively hunt backups, because they know an accessible, recoverable backup takes away their bargaining power. A backup that is on the same network, with the same credentials, and online all the time is, in practice, one more target, not a safeguard.
What makes port recovery truly reliable
- ✓Segmented and immutable backups, beyond the reach of production credentials and protected against deletion and overwriting.
- ✓Offline or air-gapped copies of the most critical systems (TOS, yard databases, customs integration).
- ✓Golden images of the essential servers for fast rebuilding from a clean, validated state.
- ✓Periodic restoration tests, with recovery time measured, not assumed.
- ✓An operational continuity plan with manual contingency procedures to maintain minimal handling during the outage.
- ✓Reconciliation between the physical state of the yard and the logical state of the systems as a mandatory step of the return.
Reliable recovery is also a matter of architectural redundancy. A terminal's critical systems should not depend on a single server, a single link, or a single data center. Decripte helps design redundancy at the right points, balancing cost and criticality, so that the failure of one component does not become the shutdown of the entire terminal. Well-designed redundancy is what allows part of the operation to continue while the rest is recovered.
Tested recovery is real recovery
There is no point in having a backup if no one knows how long it takes to restore, in what order, and whether the result works. Decripte turns the recovery plan into something verified: restoration tests, measured times, and rehearsed procedures, so that on the day of the incident the team executes a known plan rather than discovering the problems at the worst possible time.
Compliance and continuous risk management
Port security is not a project with a beginning and an end: it is a continuous program. Decripte structures this program supported by recognized standards and the applicable regulatory requirements. The LGPD, enforced by the ANPD, governs the processing of personal data that flows through the operation (clients, drivers, customs brokers, employees) and imposes duties of security, incident notification, and accountability. ISO 27001 provides the information security management system framework that corporate clients and auditors increasingly ask for. And when payment card data is processed in the operation, PCI-DSS applies and must be demonstrated.
Who demands security evidence today
It is not just the regulator. Shipping lines, large shippers, foreign-trade clients, and cyber-risk insurers have come to demand concrete evidence of controls: a security policy, recent penetration tests, an incident response plan, and vulnerability management. Without it, contracts are lost and policies become more expensive or unviable.
Vulnerability management closes the loop. In a terminal, this means continuously inventorying IT and OT assets, prioritizing fixes by the real risk to the business (an exposed TOS server weighs more than an isolated administrative workstation), and dealing with the reality that many industrial systems cannot be updated at any time, requiring compensating controls such as reinforced segmentation and dedicated monitoring until the maintenance window arrives. Recurring pentests validate in practice whether the defenses hold, rather than assuming they do.
Compliance and risk program for terminals
- ✓LGPD: data mapping, legal basis, technical security, and a plan for notifying incidents to the ANPD.
- ✓ISO 27001: an information security management system aligned with client and audit requirements.
- ✓PCI-DSS: when card data is handled in the port operation.
- ✓Continuous vulnerability management, with risk-based prioritization and compensating controls for legacy OT.
- ✓Recurring pentesting of IT, applications, and the perimeter, validating the real effectiveness of the defenses.
- ✓Evidence organized for clients, shipping lines, and cyber-risk insurers.
How Decripte works alongside the port operation
None of the measures above work if imposed from the top down, ignoring the terminal's operational reality. Decripte works side by side with the port's IT, automation, and operations teams, because they are the ones who know the physical dependencies, the possible maintenance windows, and the limits of what can and cannot be interrupted. Security is built on top of the operation, not against it.
The starting point is usually a free Threat Management assessment at decripte.com.br/intelligence-center, which provides an initial view of exposure and risk with no commitment. From there, it evolves into an architecture design, monitoring deployment, contracting a 24x7 SOC and Incident Response, and the continuous maturing of the compliance program. The end goal is simple to state and hard to reach without method: that the terminal keeps container handling flowing, with the peace of mind of knowing that, if something happens, there is someone to detect it in minutes and contain it within an hour.
Start with the assessment, evolve into continuous protection
Free exposure and threat assessment at decripte.com.br/intelligence-center. To set up a 24x7 SOC, Incident Response, and the terminal's security program, contract at decripte.io/start or talk to the team via /contato.
Anatomy of a real case: the ransomware that stopped a terminal's container handling
Real, de-identified example
A real, anonymized example (without identifying the client), built to demonstrate how Decripte operates. A mid-sized container terminal operates 24 hours a day with a commercial TOS, integration with the Federal Revenue Service, automated gates, and a fleet of ship-to-shore gantries and RTGs commanded by control systems connected to the industrial network. The IT network and the OT network have historically shared the same Active Directory domain and have no real DMZ-OT between them. Remote access for a crane maintenance supplier is done over a VPN without MFA. It is through this VPN that the incident begins.
Initial vector (Day 0)
The credentials of the crane supplier's maintenance account, without MFA, are obtained by a criminal group via an infostealer on one of the supplier's machines. The attacker accesses the VPN, lands on the terminal's corporate network, and starts silent reconnaissance, mapping the Active Directory, file servers, and network topology. Nothing visible to the internal team.
Lateral movement (Days 1 to 4)
The attacker harvests credentials from memory, escalates privileges up to a domain administrator account, and realizes that the same domain provides visibility into the network hosting the TOS server and the operation's supervision systems. They disable endpoint protections where they can and locate the backup repository, which is online and accessible with the compromised credentials.
Detection (Day 4)
Decripte's 24x7 SOC, monitoring the environment, correlates a set of signals: anomalous use of an administrative account outside business hours, lateral movement tools, and attempts to access the segment that borders the industrial network. The high-criticality alert is generated in minutes and Incident Response is triggered immediately, before mass encryption.
Containment (Day 4, within 1 hour)
Following the runbook agreed with the operation, Decripte isolates the compromised accounts, drops the remote access sessions, blocks the conduit between the corporate network and the OT border, and preserves the crane control systems, which continue operating in safe mode under supervision. The spread to the TOS and the industrial network is interrupted. Part of the corporate IT environment is segmented and frozen for forensics.
Eradication (Days 4 to 6)
The forensic investigation reconstructs the attacker's path from the supplier's VPN. Persistence, created accounts, and malicious artifacts are removed, all privileged credentials are rotated, the supplier's VPN is rebuilt with mandatory MFA and session recording, and the transitive trust between IT and OT is severed. It is confirmed that the TOS server and the customs integration were not encrypted, because containment happened before detonation.
Recovery (Days 6 to 8)
The affected IT systems are rebuilt from golden images and backups validated as clean. The integration with the Federal Revenue Service and the consenting agencies is restored and tested, and the physical state of the yard is reconciled with the logical state of the TOS to ensure that no pickup authorization was tampered with. The operation returns to its normal rhythm without having paid a ransom and without loss of production data.
Lessons and hardening (Day 8 onward)
Decripte implements definitive segmentation between IT and OT with a DMZ-OT and a zones and conduits model, separates the directory and administrative credentials of the two domains, makes the backups immutable and offline, institutes MFA and an access broker for all suppliers, and expands dedicated monitoring of the industrial network. A pentest validates the new barriers.
Outcome with Decripte
Because there was a 24x7 SOC monitoring and Incident Response with containment within 1 hour, what could have been a shutdown of several days with a ransom payment, ship demurrage, and frozen customs clearance became an incident contained before encryption, with no ransom paid and no data loss. More importantly, the terminal came out of the episode with a real OT segmentation architecture, backups the attacker can no longer reach, and supplier access under control, ceasing to be an easy target. This is a real, anonymized example; each terminal has its particularities, and the assessment at decripte.com.br/intelligence-center is the first step to mapping yours.
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How Decripte responds to an incident at a port terminal
Decripte's Incident Response for ports is designed for the reality of an environment where the digital commands the physical. Each step balances containment speed with operational safety, with a containment SLA of up to 1 hour.
- Immediate activation and triage: the 24x7 SOC confirms the incident, classifies the criticality by the affected assets (TOS, customs integration, OT network, gate systems), and dispatches the Incident Response team with the clock on the containment SLA of up to 1 hour running.
- Operationally safe containment: following runbooks pre-agreed with the operation, it isolates compromised accounts and segments, blocks the conduit between IT and OT, and preserves the crane and RTG control systems in safe mode, avoiding stopping equipment in a dangerous way.
- Forensic investigation: identifies the entry vector (phishing, VPN, RDP, supplier), reconstructs the lateral movement, determines what was accessed or exfiltrated, and establishes the attack timeline to support decisions and legal obligations.
- Complete eradication: removes persistence, malicious accounts, and artifacts, rotates privileged credentials, fixes the exploited flaws, and closes the paths that allowed movement between networks, ensuring the threat does not return during recovery.
- Orderly and validated recovery: restores systems from immutable backups and golden images confirmed as clean, in the correct dependency order, restores the customs integration, and reconciles the physical state of the yard with the logical state of the TOS.
- Communication and regulatory obligations: supports communication with clients, shipping lines, and insurers and the assessment of notification to the ANPD when personal data is involved, with a technical report and incident chronology.
- Post-incident hardening: converts the lessons learned into permanent controls (definitive IT/OT segmentation, MFA for suppliers, offline backups, expanded OT monitoring) so that the same attack does not recur.
- Validation by pentest: tests the new barriers with a controlled offensive exercise, confirming in practice that the exploited path was effectively closed.
How Decripte structures the security of ports and terminals
Before, during, and after any incident, a terminal's security needs to rest on stable pillars. Decripte structures the program around five fronts that mutually reinforce each other, always built together with the port operation.
IT/OT segmentation and zone architecture
Real separation between the administrative network and the industrial network with a DMZ-OT, the zones and conduits model of IEC 62443 over the levels of the Purdue model, microsegmentation within OT, and absence of transitive trust, so that compromising IT does not grant access to the layer that moves the containers.
Continuous monitoring with a 24x7 SOC
Simultaneous visibility into IT and OT, passive detection in the industrial environment so as not to interfere with the control systems, a baseline of the behavior of the PLCs and the TOS, and correlation that identifies lateral movement before encryption, with coverage across all shifts.
Incident Response with port runbooks
Containment capability within 1 hour with procedures that account for the physical safety of the equipment and operational continuity, forensics, eradication, and orderly recovery, plus customs and yard reconciliation as part of the return.
Redundancy and reliable recovery
Segmented, immutable, and tested backups, golden images of the critical systems, architectural redundancy at the right points, and continuity plans with manual contingency procedures, so that a failure or an attack does not become the shutdown of the entire terminal.
Compliance and vulnerability management
A continuous program aligned with LGPD, ISO 27001, and, when applicable, PCI-DSS, with vulnerability inventory and risk-based prioritization, compensating controls for legacy OT, recurring pentests, and evidence organized for clients, shipping lines, and insurers.
Recommended plans for Gaming
24x7 SOC
A port operation runs in three shifts, and the interval between the initial compromise and ransomware detonation is the window for defense. The 24x7 SOC monitors IT and OT continuously and detects lateral movement before the attacker reaches the TOS and the network that commands cranes and gates.
See plan →Incident Response
When the terminal is hit, every hour of downtime means demurrage, frozen customs clearance, and a congested yard. Containment within 1 hour with runbooks that preserve the physical safety of the equipment turns a shutdown of days into an incident of hours, without paying a ransom.
See plan →Compliance
LGPD, ISO 27001, and, when cards are handled, PCI-DSS have ceased to be optional: clients, shipping lines, and cyber-risk insurers demand evidence. The compliance program organizes controls, incident notification, and proof to sustain contracts and policies.
See plan →Pentest
Assuming that IT/OT segmentation and the perimeter hold is risky in an environment where failure costs the entire operation. Recurring pentesting validates, in practice, whether an attacker can go from IT to OT, exposing the paths to close before a criminal finds them.
See plan →Frequently asked questions
Why can ransomware stop the physical movement of containers if it only encrypts data?
Because the physical operation depends entirely on the digital layer. The Terminal Operating System (TOS) orchestrates berth allocation, yard planning, and the handling sequence, and sends orders to the systems that control cranes, RTGs, and gates. If the TOS, its databases, or the network that connects it to the equipment are encrypted or become unavailable, the crane does not receive the order, the truck does not clear the gate, and handling stops. The encrypted data is the symptom; the physical stoppage is the consequence.
How does the attack reach the industrial network if it is supposed to be isolated?
In most incidents, the attacker does not directly break into the control system. They enter through corporate IT (phishing, exposed RDP, VPN without MFA, a compromised supplier) and move laterally to the industrial network because the two networks are flat, share the same domain and the same administrative credentials. The decisive defense is real segmentation with a DMZ-OT and the zones and conduits model of IEC 62443, which ensures that compromising IT does not grant access to OT.
Can't OT monitoring interfere with the crane control systems?
That is why Decripte's OT monitoring is designed for the industrial environment, with predominantly passive detection that observes traffic without injecting commands or probes that could disturb PLCs and control systems. The SOC establishes a baseline of the normal behavior of the equipment and the TOS and alerts on deviations, without interfering with the physical operation.
What is Decripte's containment SLA in a port incident?
Decripte's Incident Response works with a containment SLA of up to 1 hour. In a terminal, containment is executed with runbooks agreed in advance with the operation, so that isolating the threat does not cause an unsafe stoppage of equipment. The goal is to interrupt the spread quickly, preserving physical safety and the possible continuity of the operation.
How can we ensure we will be able to recover without paying a ransom?
Reliable recovery depends on segmented, immutable, and offline or air-gapped backups, beyond the reach of production credentials, plus golden images of critical systems such as the TOS and the customs integration. Equally important is testing the restoration periodically, measuring the real recovery time. A backup the attacker can encrypt or delete does not protect you; a tested and isolated backup is what takes away the criminal's bargaining power.
Which standards and regulations apply to a port's security?
The LGPD, enforced by the ANPD, governs the personal data that flows through the operation and imposes duties of security and incident notification. ISO 27001 structures the information security management system, increasingly required by clients and auditors. PCI-DSS applies when card data is processed. For the industrial environment, IEC 62443 is the international reference for the security of automation and control systems.
How do you deal with old OT systems that cannot be updated?
Many industrial port systems are legacy and do not tolerate updates at any time, or simply no longer receive patches. Decripte handles this with compensating controls: reinforced segmentation to isolate the vulnerable equipment, dedicated monitoring of that segment, strict restriction of communications, and planned maintenance windows. The vulnerability is managed by the real risk to the business, not ignored nor handled in a way that stops the operation.
Where do we start if we do not yet have a structured security program?
With the free Threat Management assessment at decripte.com.br/intelligence-center, which provides an initial view of exposure and risk with no commitment. From there, Decripte helps prioritize: usually IT/OT segmentation, a 24x7 SOC, and Incident Response come first, followed by reliable recovery and compliance. To set up the engagement, just go to decripte.io/start or talk to the team via /contato.
Sector terms
- TOS (Terminal Operating System)
- The central system that orchestrates the operation of a port terminal: berth allocation, yard planning and management, the container handling sequence, and integration with cranes, gates, and customs agencies. It is one of the most critical assets to protect, because its unavailability stops the physical operation.
- TO/OT (Operational Technology)
- The set of systems, controllers (PLCs), and equipment that command physical processes, such as cranes, gantry cranes (RTG/RMG), weighbridges, and gates. Unlike traditional IT, it does not tolerate the classic isolate-and-shut-down playbook, because a wrong action can cause physical risk or an operational stoppage.
- IEC 62443
- A set of international standards for the security of industrial automation and control systems. It defines, among other concepts, the zones and conduits model, used to segment industrial networks into trust levels and rigorously control communication between them, the basis of the separation between IT and OT in a terminal.
- DMZ-OT
- Industrial demilitarized zone: an intermediate network segment, controlled by firewalls, that sits between the corporate IT network and the industrial OT network. It ensures that no traffic crosses directly from IT to the control systems, serving as a barrier to prevent a corporate compromise from reaching the physical operation.
- Demurrage
- A penalty or fee charged when a ship (or container) stays beyond the contracted time due to delays in the operation. In an incident that paralyzes the terminal, demurrage is one of the most immediate and visible costs, adding to the logistical disruption of the entire chain that depends on that port.
- Immutable backup
- A backup copy that, once written, cannot be altered or deleted during a defined period, even by administrative accounts. It protects against modern ransomware, which hunts and destroys accessible backups; combined with offline or air-gapped copies, it is what enables recovery without paying a ransom.
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