The Port of South Louisiana recently received grants designed to make a variety of improvements to the port, including cybersecurity enhancements, facility resilience, and geographic information system (GIS) implementation.
Businesses everywhere, including the Port of South Louisiana, face an ever-evolving series of cybersecurity threats. While an average internet user might think of a cybersecurity threat as someone clicking on a malicious link in an email or on social media or visiting a website that has been hacked, the reality is far more complex, challenging, and concerning than that.
An October 2023 article in Homeland Security Today identified drones lurking above sensitive maritime facilities as a “common occurrence.” The Baton Rouge Area Maritime Security Committee Unmanned Aerial Surveillance Working Group received reports from May-August 2022 about an unmanned aerial surveillance drone observed flying slowly over a Maritime Transportation Security Act-regulated facility several nights a week.
So, the challenges facing the Port of South Louisiana are more complicated than many realize. But the new grants will help the port face these challenges head-on and protect one of the region’s vital economic engines.
“The PSL is looking to improve cybersecurity of its critical infrastructure by meeting minimum levels of cybersecurity identified by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework,” said April Danos, a consultant for the Port of South LA.
Danos also added that some of the more specific tactics the Port of South Louisiana will use to combat cyber terrorist threats cannot be revealed publicly due to security reasons, but emphasized that the port is upgrading certain parts of its network infrastructure to stay ahead of the curve on cybersecurity issues.
The grants will also provide for GIS system improvements. Danos said the enhanced GIS system will provide a fuller understanding of the facility status and its performance. It will bring together departments, business systems, and data sources to aid the Port of South Louisiana in disaster recovery and continuity planning. Disaster recovery is a major point of emphasis for the port in light of recent major hurricanes that have struck south Louisiana within the past five years, including Laura, Zeta, and Ida.
“Part of the Port of South Louisiana’s GIS Strategic Plan is to provide the viewing of buildings and the location of assets along with emergency information, such as weather patterns and disaster zones, and give the port the information they need to make decisions quickly and easily,” Danos said.
Regarding GIS systems, the Port of South Louisiana is currently in phase one of its GIS implementation, which includes the aforementioned GIS Strategic Plan to determine the most important aspects of the GIS system that will provide access to port security personnel and public safety agencies in the port’s 54 miles of jurisdiction along the Lower Mississippi River.
“The GIS system will provide up-to-date information to maintain port-wide risk management for critical infrastructure, transportation, and utility networks and the location of hazardous materials,” Danos said.
Danos listed the primary goals of the project as the following: information sharing systems for risk mitigation, enhancement of command-and-control facilities, updating port-wide risk mitigation plans, development and enhancement of security plans and procedures, improved information-sharing technology, and resilience to cybersecurity attacks.
Physical security is also being improved at the Port of South Louisiana through updating access control locations and installing additional cameras to its existing video-management system throughout the port’s jurisdiction. This will allow security personnel to monitor the port-wide area and be proactive in any response to physical security matters.
