On 16 November, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) hosted an in-person Joint Area Maritime Security Exercise at Shell’s Norco refinery facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jim Rocco, Senior Director – Government & Industry Affairs – Offshore, attended the event on behalf of IADC. Rocco’s relevant experience also includes being the current staff liaison for the IADC Cybersecurity Committee and formerly serving with the U.S. Coast Guard.
This year’s event was conducted as a tabletop exercise with a focus on a cybersecurity breech scenario involving onshore and offshore production operations. BSEE and the USCG were represented by Washington, D.C. and Gulf of Mexico officials responsible for initiating incident response efforts utilizing the Incident Command Structure (ICS). An array of maritime and offshore industry stakeholders, including IADC, were also in attendance to engage and assist in the further development of response measures and to enhance industry-government coordination when considering growing cyber threats. This event proved to be a valuable experience for all participants. The exercise elicited novel consideration and thought on a number of key elements that comprise necessary prevention and response plans to thwart growing cyber threats. A prevailing “take away” shared among the exercise participants was the imperative for continued dialogue among industry and government stakeholders to further develop cybersecurity strategies.
Feel free to contact Jim Rocco at Jim.Rocco@iadc.org for questions concerning IADC Cybersecurity efforts. Questions regarding the U.S. Coast Guard’s Area Maritime Security Committee may be addressed to the committee’s Executive Secretary, Steven Wilkes at steven.d.wilkes2@uscg.mil. See here for the Coast Guard’s 2021 Area Maritime Security Committee report (reference to cybersecurity on page 10 of the report).
