Our global freight forwarding network keeps our customers freight moving across the world.

Cyber-crime group hits 38 shipping and port groups with date leak threat

Cyber extortion group 'n0n' has named 38 organisations across the global shipping and ports sector on its dark-web leak site, raising concerns that data may have been stolen. Cybersecurity firm SOCRadar reported yesterday n0n published the listings in a single batch on 12 October, that included container terminals, shipping lines, port IT providers, and logistics businesses across 18 countries. None of the maritime organisations named had publicly confirmed a breach at the time of writing. South Korea accounted for 12 listings, including Busan terminal operators BNCT and Pusan Newport Co. The list included Brazilian port operators Santos Brasil, Portonave, and Superterminais; Singapore-based carrier ONE; China's CULines; Taiwan's TS Lines; Spain's TTI Algeciras; and Morocco's Eurogate Tanger. The batch more than doubled n0n's previously recorded victim count. The group emerged last month, listing 21 organisations across sectors including telecoms, retail, pharmaceuticals, and education. SOCRadar said the pattern of data described in the listings suggested a possible common point of entry, rather than 38 separate network intrusions. According to the researchers, the relatively small, narrowly focused datasets and recurring document types could indicate information had been taken from an application or integration platform used by multiple organisations. Reviewed samples included electronic data interchange (EDI) messages, container manifests, vessel schedules, gate movements, and terminal system configuration records. The claimed volumes ranged from 60mb for South Korean logistics company EUSU, to 2.4gb for Indonesia's ILCS Pelindo. The absence of matching infostealer credential records for many of the listed companies also complicates the theory that each intrusion began with stolen employee credentials, which SOCRadar identifies as a typical n0n access method. But it warned that a shared system could extend the potential exposure beyond the organisations named on the leak site. EDI records and manifests can contain information on cargo movements, bookings, and commercial relationships involving shipping lines and other supply chain partners. The pattern is reminiscent of mass-exploitation campaigns involving file-transfer software vulnerabilities, including the MOVEit Transfer attacks in 2023 and Cleo in 2024. However, SOCRadar said there was no evidence linking n0n to those incidents. The cybercrime group has set a publication deadline of 19 October at 1.27pm UTC for the maritime listings reviewed by SOCRadar. Its leak site uses countdowns and status labels to pressure victims into paying. Settlement demands have ranged from $2.4m to $14m, payable in bitcoin. The amounts did not appear to correspond with the volume of data allegedly stolen: EUSU Logistics faced a $14m demand for 60mb, with ILCS Pelindo at $2.4m for 2.4gb. Some listings also offered victims the option of opening negotiations after paying 10% of the demand. SOCRadar described n0n as a "financially motivated data-theft extortion operation" that generally avoids traditional ransomware deployment, instead threatening to publish stolen information. Its profile nevertheless includes techniques associated with encryption and interference with recovery, meaning disruptive activity cannot be ruled out. The group's claims remain unverified. Of its 21 earlier victims, SOCRadar said 19 remained at the claimed stage, one was listed as negotiating, and one, Chibitek, had experienced a data leak. Therefore, the 19 October deadline could provide the first substantive indication of what information n0n holds, and whether the alleged exposure extends across shared platforms. SOCRadar warned that maritime businesses that exchange EDI with companies named in the attack should plan for the possibility that their operational data could appear in the 19 October release. It advised them to identify the port community systems, EDI hubs, and file-transfer services handling their data; to check with providers for potential breaches, patch exposed systems, and investigate unusual access or bulk downloads. It also recommended rotating integration credentials, checking for compromised employee and supplier credentials, enforcing multi-factor authentication on remote access, and removing internet-exposed RDP services. It also advised firms to prepare communications for customers and regulators in case data is exposed through a third party, and monitor n0n's activity for further leak-site postings.

No end in sight of the misery for US trucking: 'It's a broken model'

The US trucking market limped through a dismal summer, and the misery is expected to continue into next year. Rates have risen, but this was the result of diminishing capacity, not of a healthy market, and despite tepid demand, tender rejections are soaring, which has prompted warnings of a structural crisis for the industry. Not everybody sees a sector in crisis, though. At first glance, the industry is recovering. US Bank's latest Freight Payment Index shows spot rates for linehaul in August 35.6% higher than a year earlier, while contract rates were up 20.1%. However, spot loads dropped 3.2% from July, while contract loads retreated 1.3%. Year on year, contract loads were 27.7% lower and spot loads shrank 5.7%. Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Associations, noted that truck tonnage had declined in four of the past five months. Clearly the rates reflect the contraction of capacity, which has been driven primarily by Washington's push to remove non-domiciled drivers and those with insufficient English language skills from the market. In addition, rising costs and the Supreme Court's ruling that brokers can be held liable for accidents caused by truckers - which has caused brokerages and 3PLs to tighten their carrier pools - have been forcing small operators out of the market. In this situation, shippers have found moving their goods more challenging. Tender rejections are soaring; they climbed to 14.3% after Labor Day (7 September) - the downturn that began in 2023 ushered in rejection rates of around 5% This discrepancy, even wider when the slower demand curve is factored-in to the equation, has caused worries that the market has a structural problem that rising demand seems unable to fix. Capacity has shrunk sharply and is unlikely to show significant gains in the near future, as the factors that have reduced it remain in place. Neither is the US administration going to step back from its crusade to weed out truckers deemed unsuitable, nor is an end of the Middle East conflict in sight, which would bring down diesel costs. As MVP Logistics pointed out in a blog in June: for manufacturers, "a tender rejection on a critical inbound or outbound lane is not only a freight cost problem, it becomes a production problem when inbound components arrive late and line time is lost. It becomes a budget problem when spot rate premiums replace contracted rates on lanes that need coverage every week". Beyond this, rising tender rejections are usually harbingers of upward pricing pressure - an unwelcome scenario for shippers faced with elevated costs from inflation, tariffs, and disruptions. An alternative view of the situation is that the sharp increase in declined loads should be seen as a wake-up call for shippers. Satish Jindel, founder and president of SJ Consulting, thinks the alarm bells are too shrill. "This is not a crisis," he said. "You don't have shippers complaining that their freight is not moved. No freight is left behind." He argues that there is plenty of available capacity that goes to waste as a result of bad habits that still prevail in the industry. Shippers ought to optimise their surface transport and maximise loads rather than continue to ship lots of air, he says. "If you consolidate your traffic, you may spend more on an individual shipment, but you spend less overall," he explained. Truckers would also benefit, as their margins would improve, he added: "If you move three 1,000kg shipments three times a week instead of two shipments of 1,500kg, your margins are worse." Truckers that are struggling to keep their heads above water may favour more frequent injections of income over longer-term margin improvements for the sake of cash flow, but overall improving margins should be the way to go, he added. Having preached load optimisation for years, Mr Jindel is not holding his breath that the current situation will trigger a broad change, though. Shippers would have to adopt a more comprehensive approach to their logistics, which could only be pushed through from the top. But even this is unlikely, as financial targets set for CEOs usually do not reach into logistics management, he said. So, by some measure, this predicament could be called a structural crisis. "It is a pretty broken model," admitted Mr Jindel.

FexEx launches digital pharma booking and management portal

FedEx Europe has launched a new online portal that it said enables pharmaceutical and life sciences shippers to digitally book and manage temperature-controlled shipments across the continent. The platform, available in 26 markets within Europe, is linked to the FedEx Temp-Assure Advantage solution and is being introduced during the busy fourth quarter to help customers better manage demand. The online portal is currently available for intra-European and domestic services in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden Spain, Switzerland, for non-freight shipments. FedEx told Air Cargo News that the solution covers both air and road transport up to 68 kg. Designed for pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech companies and clinical trial operators, the portal provides greater convenience and control over critical temperature-sensitive healthcare shipments. The digital portal gives customers access to FedEx Temp-Assure Advantage, a temperature-controlled shipping solution designed to support the rigorous requirements of the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. As demand grows for biologics, speciality medicines and vaccines, maintaining strict temperature control is critical to ensuring product efficacy and patient safety. The FedEx Temp-Assure Advantage combines qualified packaging, tested in the FedEx Packaging lab, with the company's integrated European transportation network to help maintain temperature integrity from origin to destination. The solution supports frozen (-25°C to -15°C), refrigerated (2°C to 8°C) and controlled room temperature (15°C to 25°C) shipments. Advanced vacuum-insulated packaging and phase-change materials help maintain required temperatures for more than 96 hours, while CEIV Pharma-certified facilities and standardised processes provide enhanced control, visibility and compliance throughout transit. FedEx Temp-Assure Advantage also incorporates a reusable packaging model, with containers collected, refurbished and redeployed to help reduce waste while maintaining high-performance standards. As pharmaceutical supply chains become more global and increasingly focused on high-value, temperature-sensitive therapies, healthcare companies need logistics partners that can combine reliability, compliance and ease of access," said Toby Hay, managing director, international marketing at FedEx Europe. "This new portal represents an important step in simplifying access to specialised temperature-controlled capabilities, helping customers manage critical shipments more efficiently and with greater confidence, particularly as they prepare for the increased demands of the year-end Peak season." The portal is part of a wider suite of digital tools that simplifies what has traditionally been a complex and manual process, allowing customers to onboard, order pre-conditioned packaging, schedule shipments and manage returns, said FedEx.