Port of Los Angeles to create cyber resilience center

Port of Los Angeles to create cyber resilience center
Photo: The Port of Los Angeles

Moving forward with its plans to create a first-of-its-kind Cyber Resilience Center, the Port of Los Angeles issued a Request for Proposal seeking companies or firms interested in designing, installing, operating and maintaining the planned Center at the nation’s busiest trade gateway.

The Cyber Resilience Center will serve as a focal point for cyber threat information-sharing across companies and stakeholders at the Port, helping to identify and prepare against cyber risks potentially impacting the cargo supply chain ecosystem. The idea for creation of the collaborative Center was an outcome of a maritime industry working group meeting hosted by the Port earlier this spring.

“Collaborative cyber-threat information sharing is critical to the safety and security of our Port,” said Chief Thomas Gazsi, who serves as Deputy Executive Director of Public Safety and Emergency Management. “This Cyber Resilience Center will allow us to more quickly identify and mitigate cyber incidents that pose a threat to the maritime supply chain.”

Once awarded, the Cyber Resilience Center contract must be approved by the Board of Harbor Commissioners and the Los Angeles City Council.

In 2014, the Port established the nation’s first Port of Los Angeles Cyber Security Operations Center, operated by a dedicated cybersecurity team. The Center acts as a centralized location to proactively monitor network traffic to prevent and detect cyber incidents under Port control. The Port has also maintained its ISO 27001 certification for cyber security, the only port to have this certification.

The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovatively strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $297 billion in trade during 2018. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs in the five-county Southern California region.