How Transportation and Logistics Companies Can Better Manage Cyber Risk

Transportation and logistics businesses run on instructions. Dispatchers, drivers, brokers, shippers, receivers, accounting teams, vendors, and customers all need the right details at the right time.

That can make cyber risk easy to overlook. A changed delivery address, a revised carrier packet, a new payment contact, or a link to an updated document can look like normal work, especially when a load is already moving.

Who decides what happens next?

For many transportation companies, the answer may be "whoever notices first." A practical cybersecurity program can help replace that guesswork with clearer roles, verification steps, and response plans before employees have to make high-pressure decisions.

Key Takeaways

• Cyber risk often arises in routine workflows: dispatch emails, broker portals, load boards, payment instructions, driver calls, vendor access, and customer updates.
• Cyber-enabled cargo theft may begin with a fraudulent load posting or fake load scheme, compromised account, manipulated bill of lading, or last-minute destination change.
• Teams should know who can approve changes, how to verify them, and whom to contact when something appears suspicious.
• Downtime planning should reflect the way the business operates, including dispatch, routes, customer communication, billing, records, and passenger services where applicable.
• Start with the people, vendors, systems, and documents that could stop operations, redirect money or cargo, expose data, or create safety concerns.

Where Cyber Risk Might Show Up in the Transportation Industry

Misleading information is particularly dangerous because it can appear ordinary. CISA describes the transportation sector as moving people and goods across the country and overseas. For a carrier, broker, warehouse, passenger transportation company, or logistics provider, that broad description becomes very practical.

Can dispatch trust the pickup details? Can accounting trust a payment change? Can a driver confirm the new destination? Can leaders reach the right people if email is down?

A useful cyber review should start with the systems and records people touch every day:

• Dispatch, scheduling, route, and driver communication tools
• Load boards, broker portals, carrier portals, and customer portals
• Billing, payroll, fuel card, banking, and claims systems
• Bills of lading, rate confirmations, delivery records, customs documents, passenger records, and customer data
• Vendor platforms that support operations or store company information

For each system, consider: who owns it, who can change it, who approves exceptions, and what processes are affected if it becomes unavailable? If no one can answer quickly, that is a finding worth addressing.

Cargo Theft Can Start with Ordinary-Looking Requests

Transportation companies already watch for theft in yards, trailers, fuel cards, pickups, and paperwork. Cyber tactics can make those risks harder to spot because the request may arrive through a familiar email account, portal, or document workflow.

In a 2026 public service announcement, the FBI warned that cyber threat actors were impersonating legitimate businesses to hijack freight, steal high-value shipments, and reroute deliveries. The FBI reported estimated cargo theft losses in the United States and Canada of approximately $725 million in 2025, representing a 60% increase from 2024, while confirmed incidents rose 18%.

Warning signs may include:

• A familiar name using a slightly different email address
• A link to a carrier packet, service complaint, or revised document
• A changed phone number or new contact
• A last-minute pickup, delivery, or payment instruction
• A request that creates urgency because the shipment is already in transit

Employees should be empowered to pause when a request appears unusual. Verify pickup, delivery, payment, and destination changes through known contacts or established channels. Require a second approval for carrier, consignee, delivery, or payment changes. Maintain a record of who approved the change and how it was confirmed.

Speed matters—but so does verification.

Clarify Who Can Approve Changes

A cybersecurity incident becomes more difficult to manage when no one owns the decision. Who can approve a payment change? Who can instruct dispatch to hold a release? Who can disable a suspicious account? Who contacts the broker, shipper, insurer, outside IT support, or law enforcement?

Start with accounts and roles that could create real damage if misused: dispatch and customer communication, broker and load-board access, billing, payroll, fuel cards, banking, vendor accounts, and manager or administrator accounts.

This does not require an extensive policy project. For many companies, a one-page approval map would represent a meaningful improvement: who can request a change, who can approve it, and who must be notified.

Then maintain access hygiene. Remove former users. Review critical accounts before peak season or after staffing changes. Provide employees with a simple way to report a suspicious message or request.

Plan for the Day Systems Are Unavailable

Ransomware and other disruptive cybersecurity events can block access to necessary business systems. CISA's #StopRansomware Guide notes that these incidents can affect business processes, service delivery, recovery, cost, and reputation.

Transportation organizations experience these impacts quickly. If dispatch loses visibility, drivers still need instructions. If email is unavailable, customers still expect updates. If billing stops, cash flow becomes constrained. Passenger routes, temperature-controlled freight, medical transportation, hazardous materials, and time-sensitive deliveries add additional pressure.

A downtime plan should reflect the business’s actual operations, not remain unused documentation. The TSA Surface Transportation Cybersecurity Toolkit is one useful sector resource for organizations reviewing preparedness and cyber practices.

Start with practical questions: which routes, loads, customers, or passenger services need attention first? Can dispatch run manually for a few hours? Where are contact lists if email is unavailable? Who can approve a workaround? Which vendors, insurers, legal advisors, law enforcement contacts, and leaders need to be notified?

Then test one component of the plan: a dispatch outage, compromised email scenario, suspicious load change, or backup restoration. The plan’s effectiveness becomes apparent quickly when tested under operational conditions.

Vendors Are Part of the Route

Many transportation companies depend on outside systems and partners, including brokers, shippers, carriers, warehouses, payment processors, claims platforms, software vendors, outsourced IT, maintenance providers, cloud services, and customer portals.

Not every vendor necessarily needs to be treated the same. But, you do need to know which ones matter most. CISA's supply chain security resources can help organizations think through third-party dependencies, access, and risk management.

Consider prioritizing vendors that affect shipment movement, customer or passenger records, payment instructions, company email, internal systems, claims, insurance, sensitive documents, or critical customer communication.

For those vendors, ask direct questions. How would they notify you about a security incident? Who can approve account or payment changes? What company data do they store? How is access removed when the relationship ends? What is the backup plan if the service is down during a busy operating window?

Incomplete answers are useful. They indicate where contracts, backup plans, access limits, or manual procedures may need attention.

Use the Risk Review to Choose the Next Moves

A cyber risk review may help leadership determine what to do next. If it produces a lengthy report without actionable decisions, it probably has not served its purpose.

For a transportation or logistics business, the review should connect risk to actual operations. Which systems would stop freight movement, passenger service, billing, or customer communication? Which accounts could redirect cargo, change payment instructions, or expose sensitive data? Which vendors could create a real disruption?

Perhaps the first step is strengthening login protections on email and load-board access. Perhaps it is removing former users, testing backups, documenting whom to contact, or tightening how dispatch verifies changes. The priority should be driven by business impact, not by the most prominent recent headline.

How Acrisure Can Help

Acrisure works with transportation companies across commercial insurance, risk management, safety, employee benefits, cybersecurity, and related business areas. Acrisure Cyber Services can help transportation and logistics organizations evaluate cybersecurity exposure, prioritize improvements, and implement controls that align with their environment and service requirements.

Depending on scope, support may include cyber risk analysis, managed IT and cybersecurity services, email and account protection, awareness training, backup and recovery planning, business continuity support, advisory services, and 24/7/365 monitoring and response for systems within scope.

For many transportation companies, the recommended first step is developing a clearer understanding of where cyber risk intersects with dispatch, freight, passengers, vendors, payments, and recovery. With that foundation, the next step becomes easier to identify.

Get Started With Your Cybersecurity Consultation.

Contact us to develop the right solutions for your transportation or logistics business. 

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^{This content is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, insurance, cybersecurity, or other professional advice on any particular matter. Cybersecurity risks, coverage considerations, and response requirements vary by business, industry, and operating environment. Consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to your circumstances.}