23 October 2019 – GTMaritime has seen exceptional growth in the use of its secure, maritime optimised email software and other cyber-security solutions as vessel owners and operators step up a gear to harden onboard networks and protect their ships from digital threats. Many have been spurred into action by IMOâs decision to bring cyber-security under the remit of the ISM code from 2021.
Some 5,677 vessels are now employing solutions from GTMaritimeâs portfolio â an increase of more than one-third over the past year. Put another way, nearly one in ten vessels in the global merchant fleet are using GTMaritime technology to safeguard onboard systems from malicious code.
Notably, the deployment of the made-for-maritime anti-virus solution GTSentinel has jumped 23% since September 2018, with nearly 1,500 vessels now subscribing. Standard antivirus protection software can underperform at sea due to patchy connectivity and bandwidth constraints, often leaving vessels and businesses at risk.
GTSentinel was developed specifically by GTMaritime to overcome these failure points. It allows fleet IT managers to schedule the distribution of anti-virus updates on a live, daily or weekly basis. Updates need only be sent once to each vessel and then propagated to all onboard devices thanks to a unique serverless peer-to-peer distribution mechanism. The âbuddy systemâ minimises the impact of updates on the shipâs communications infrastructure and lets fleet managers strike a balance between airtime costs and updating anti-virus software.
When coupled with GTMaritimeâs advanced email solution, GTMailPlus, GTSentinel ensures vessels are equipped with the highest level of protection against ransomware, spam, viruses and malware.
In the last six months, GTMaritime services have stopped more than 59,500 malware attacks which were unknown to standard antivirus services and halted more than 68,000 known viruses in their tracks. They have also prevented more than 200,000 spam messages clogging up onboard inboxes.
Mike McNally, who joined GTMaritime last year as Sales & Marketing Director, has now taken on the role of Global Commercial Director, responsible for all sales, marketing, technical sales support and sales operations. He said: âAs the leading independent provider of maritime email we feel a responsibility to continuously enhance the cyber security aspect of our solutions. We have made hundreds of updates and enhancements this year and will continue to do our best to keep ahead of the threat profiles.â
GTMaritime continues to respond to rising demand for its security solutions, McNally added. Over the past year, it has added nine new resellers across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, he said.
About GTMaritime:
GTMaritime
Wherever you are, we are.
- Over 20 years maritime communications experience
- 5,500+ vessels & 500+ businesses worldwide trust GTMaritime with their communication solutions
- Proven 100% service record with no unscheduled downtime
- 100% malware blocking with over 86,000 malware attacks stopped in the last 12 months
- Over 5.3m spam messages and 1.7m known viruses blocked in the last 12 months
- 24-7-365 technical support from ITIL trained engineers
- Offices in the UK, USA and Singapore along with a global partner network
- Continuous software development ensures rapid deployment of new functionality, as well providing software updates for vulnerabilities
Since 1998 GTMaritime has been providing a range of technology solutions and services to the maritime industry that serve to enable effective communications over satellite.
We specialise in providing solutions and services that help ensure vessel compliance and business operability 365 days a year, as well as keeping crew in touch with friends and family whilst at sea. All of this is backed up by a market leading infrastructure and unrivalled 24-hour customer support, every day of the year.
Our development team deliver continuous development and enhancement features to ensure our products stay ahead of the ever-growing cyber threats, with silent system enhancements deployed on a weekly basis.
We provide these services from three offices â our head office in the UK and local offices in the USA and Singapore â and increasingly through an established and growing network of resellers and partners around the world.
For further information:
Alexandra Collinsâ
Marketing Manager, GTMaritime
+44 (0) 1925 818918
Alexandra.Collins@GTMaritime.com
www.GTMaritime.com
Debbi Bonner
Managing Director, JLA Media
+31 (0)6 5263 0122
debbi.bonner@j-l-a.com
www.j-l-a.com
