Cyberbiosecurity Within the Seafood Sector

Abstract

Due to the rapid advancements of technology in industrial processes and research around the globe, cybersecurity is becoming a necessity for many sectors. Considering as well, the means of biosecurity which is the protection of food grown or imported into the United States, there is a need for a convergence of the two fields. Many agriculture-based sectors have been recent targets for cyber-attacks which poses the importance for expanding the use and acceptance of cyberbiosecurity. The seafood sector as a whole has not been the primary target for attacks, which opened the door to study their practices and if notable conclusions could be drawn as to why. This exploratory study was used to gather preliminary data that can be further expanded in the future. Through the study, the goal was to gather information about employee knowledge of cyberbiosecurity within the seafood sector and how their organizations are implementing practices and training to help secure functions within differing branches of the sector. A survey was distributed via email to various organizations within the United States. The results showed that while there seems to be consistent knowledge of cyberbiosecurity within the seafood sector, there are also gaps in training and implementation of practices. Further research could be done to find potential solutions that could be implemented to further fortify the seafood sector.