The New Face of Cargo Theft
March 14, 2025
Back in the day cargo thieves had to get their hands dirty—literally. They’d break into freight yards, cut locks, and hijack trailers under the cover of darkness. But those days are LONG GONE!
The modern cargo thief doesn’t need a crowbar or a getaway vehicle anymore. All they need is your login credentials.
Cargo fraud has skyrocketed by 430%, and it’s not because criminals are suddenly more interested in stealing freight. It’s because technology has made it easier than ever for them and they don’t even have to come out to the yard.
The Digital Takeover of Freight Fraud
Here’s how the game has changed:
🚛 Phishing Scams – Cybercriminals send fake emails that look like they’re from legitimate logistics partners, tricking employees into handing over sensitive login credentials.
📦 Fake Brokers & Freight Forwarders – Fraudsters create convincing broker profiles on load boards, win bids on shipments, and then disappear with the freight.
🔐 Stolen Credentials – A compromised password here, a compromised email there, and suddenly a criminal has full access to routing and dispatching systems. With the right access, they can reroute shipments in real-time, essentially stealing cargo in broad daylight without ever having to touching it.
The sad part is that most 3PLs don’t even realize they’ve been hit until the loads are already long gone.
Why Do These Attacks Keep Happening?
If cybercriminals are pulling off these heists with nothing but a keyboard, why aren’t more companies stopping them? The short answer is because they don’t have anyone actively watching for it.
Think about it, freight and logistics companies move thousands of loads a day. But are they actually monitoring the access points, credentials, and transactions that control those shipments? In case you were wondering, the answer is NO!
Here’s why cargo thieves are getting away with it:
✅ Weak Cybersecurity Controls – Many 3PLs don’t have strong authentication measures, making it easy for stolen credentials to be used without raising red flags.
✅ Lack of Real-Time Threat Detection – If no one’s actively hunting for suspicious network activity, a criminal rerouting a load just looks like a routine update.
✅ Blind Trust in Brokers & Load Boards – Freight brokers and shippers often work with multiple third parties, assuming that everyone on the platform is legitimate. Spoiler Alert: they’re not.
✅ Slow Response Times – By the time fraud is detected, the shipment is often unrecoverable. No real-time detection means no real-time intervention.
How to Fight Back: Protecting Your Loads from Digital Theft
If you’re serious about protecting your freight, the solution is SIMPLE…but it does require some change. We have to start being more strategic when it comes to cybersecurity and stop trying to do just the bare minimum.
We need to start investing in solutions like:
🔒 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) – If a criminal steals your credentials, MFA can be the difference between a failed login attempt and a six-figure cargo loss.
🚨 Utilize User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) – Deploy UEBA solutions that are actively hunting for changes in behavior patterns so you can detect things like unusual login locations, changes in shipment routes, and network access from suspicious IPs.
🕵️ Conduct Regular Penetration Testing – Just like criminals look for weaknesses, you should be too! A penetration test simulates a cyberattack to expose vulnerabilities before a real hacker does.
🛡️ Deploy a Managed SOC (Security Operations Center) – You wouldn’t let your warehouse sit unmonitored overnight. So why let your digital assets go unprotected? A Managed SOC provides 24/7 active threat hunting, spotting threats before they turn into costly breaches.
The Bottom Line
Cybercriminals aren’t just breaking into systems for fun. This is a highly lucrative business for them, and right now, the logistics industry is a prime target. If you’re not doing active threat hunting, penetration testing, and putting the right security measures in place, you’re rolling the dice every time a shipment leaves the dock.
You’re either ahead of the attack or paying for it. Let’s talk and make sure you’re on the right side of things.
Schedule a call today to see how our no-risk penetration testing can expose vulnerabilities before criminals do.
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