Marine insurers must be “creative and resourceful” to help the logistics industry mitigate against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) says.

The WannaCry ransomware attack in May, which crippled the UK healthcare system and other major European companies, underscores the risk to the logistics industry.

“The logistics industry continues to undergo massive change,” President Dieter Berg says in IUMI’s latest newsletter.

“Digitalisation, smart ports, intelligent containers and autonomously navigating vessels are poised to radically alter the entire transport and shipping industry.

“There can be no doubt that interconnected systems, which will be the norm in shipping and logistics in the very near future, are inherently vulnerable and these vulnerabilities will be exploited. To support the industry and capture the opportunities of this new paradigm, marine insurers will have to be creative and resourceful.”

The IUMI conference in Tokyo in September will address challenges facing marine insurers in areas such as cyber risk, Big Data analysis and the Internet of Things in shipping.

Meanwhile, International Underwriting Association of London CEO Dave Matcham says marine insurers have a vital interest in the outcome of Brexit talks between the UK and European Union.

“Clearly it is in all our interests that a comprehensive trade deal is concluded, establishing mutual recognition between insurance regulators,” he says in the newsletter.