Like any business, transport and logistics providers need to be aware of the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. Cybercrime is constantly evolving, with criminals constantly seeking out new opportunities to cause significant damage to companies’ digital infrastructure. Fortunately, the tools that are designed to protect your company and facilitate its operations also evolve to counter these persistent threats.
The transport and logistics sector is one of the most vulnerable to cybercrime attacks in the world, resulting in billions in losses globally. That’s why Qargo is designed not only to facilitate easier and more cost-effective operations, but to protect your company from the most common cybersecurity threats encountered within the industry.
Let’s take a look at four of the biggest threats within the transportation and logistics sector, and the reasons why Qargo is the solution.
Qargo empowers transportation companies to protect their digital infrastructures while also making their operations more transparent, centralised, efficient, and cost-effective.
1) Outdated software and servers
The global pandemic has proven a sobering reminder of how viruses are constantly evolving in order to counteract the medicinal treatments put in place to protect us from them. Unfortunately, the same is true of their digital counterparts.
Using outdated software with poorly-maintained servers can make your infrastructure vulnerable to viruses, resulting in data loss and downtime that may prove crippling to your operations and your reputation.
Furthermore, ransomware and cryptolocker viruses can effectively lock your team out of your system until you pay a ransom for access to be restored. This again can lead to crippling costs, downtime and damage to your firm’s reputation.
🚛 Why Qargo is the solution
Qargo is hosted on Google Cloud. As such, there are no servers to maintain, nor are there any tedious software updates for the customer to keep on top of. System updates are installed automatically by Google, and you're always and automatically using the last version of Qargo; you only need to worry about going about business as usual.
2) Poor software design
There’s a difference between getting good value for money and buying cheap. All too often under-investing in digital solutions means using poorly designed software that makes it easier for hackers to gain access to your data.
Furthermore, cheaper solutions may speak to underinvestment in server costs on the provider’s part. This may give rise to server failures, causing data to be corrupted and lost.
🚛 Why Qargo is the solution
At Qargo, we take your data extremely seriously, and our software design is built around protecting the data that keeps your operations moving. All data is encrypted in accordance with ISO 27001 security standard practices. What’s more, our infrastructure setup with redundancy and data replication to guard against a loss of data. So you can be assured that whatever happens, you’ll always have access to the data you need to take care of business.
3) DDoS attacks
The logistics and transportation sector is a common target for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The WannaCry viral attack on German railway operator Deutsche Bahn is an obvious example. However, logistics mainstays like TNT, FedEx, French transportation company CMA CGM, and Danish transport and logistics titan Maersk have all been high-profile targets of DDoS attacks.
These attacks use bits to flood servers with internet traffic, thereby preventing users from accessing the online services, apps and sites that are integral to operations. This may lead to prolonged downtime, compromised relations with clients, and a huge blow to both your firm’s profitability and its reputation.
🚛 Why Qargo is the solution
Qargo uses Google cloud Armour, one of the world’s best protections from DDoS attacks. It uses machine learning systems trained locally on our applications to automatically detect and help mitigate high volume Layer 7 DDoS attacks.
We are also able to quickly scale infrastructure in order to cope with increased traffic, so that you’ll always enjoy consistent service from the tools that you rely on.
4) Human error
Your company needs to invest in the right tools to get the job done. But more importantly, it needs to invest in the right people. The people who are as passionate about what you do as you are, and arrive to work with the ingenuity, integrity, professionalism and positive attitude on which you’ve built your brand.
Unfortunately, despite their skills and unwavering dedication, without the proper training and support your team may also be your greatest cybersecurity vulnerability. According to IBM’s Cyber Security Intelligence Index Report, 95% of cyber security breaches are primarily caused by human error.
It’s one thing to invest in a robust digital security tool. But without proper employee training, your infrastructure can still be left vulnerable. As well as data being accidentally deleted or inputted incorrectly, there’s the risk that comes with phishing communications.
Teams need to be trained to spot phishing communications which provide scammers with login access by creating a facsimile of your company’s email communications and / or login page. With access to employee login details, cybercriminals can gain access to your infrastructure and do all sorts of damage.
🚛 Why Qargo is the solution
Hackers cannot gain access to our developer accounts because 2-factor authentication is enabled for all Qargo employees. We have also invested in infrastructure as code (IaC) allowing for very fast disaster recovery. We also have a robust system of “just in time” backups and rollbacks to enable data to be recovered if it is removed accidentally or maliciously.
We also have a stringent review process, where changes are rigorously reviewed before deployment to maintain the highest level of quality.
Combined with string IT governance training, our systems can seriously mitigate the risks presented by human error.
As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Qargo empowers transportation companies to protect their digital infrastructures while also making their operations more transparent, centralised, efficient, and cost-effective.
To see what more Qargo can do to enhance your operations while improving your cyber security, why not book a demo?
