Cybersecurity for shipping and freight businesses that don’t have an IT department
Protection for Shipping & logistics firms of 1 to 9 people, built around
the threats that target freight, payments, and customer data.
Your business moves freight and money
Every load you book involves a rate, a carrier, a customer, and a payment. Those details are valuable to attackers. Smaller operations are often easier to target because nobody’s job is watching for trouble.
What’s happening right now
Payment fraud is one of the most common ways attackers go after freight businesses. A carrier, factoring company, or vendor appears to send updated bank details right before a payment is due.
The email looks routine. The account number is the only thing that changed, and by the time anyone notices, the money is gone.
Attackers also impersonate shippers and brokers to send fake load tenders, and they use fake login requests to reach load boards and dispatch systems.
The lesson: a payment change, a new load, or a login request that arrives by email is a reason to pause and check, not a reason to hurry.
Four habits that close the most common gaps
1. Verify every payment change by phone. If a carrier, factor, or vendor sends new bank details, call them at a number you already have on file.
Don’t reply to the email or use the number in it.
2. Confirm load changes outside email. Rate changes, new tenders, and pickup or delivery updates from unfamiliar addresses should be confirmed through the platform or by phone before anyone moves a truck.
3. Turn on multifactor authentication everywhere that matters. That includes email, load boards, your transportation management system, telematics, fuel cards, and online banking. Many businesses protect email and forget the rest.
4. Remove access when people leave, and keep backups you can restore. When a dispatcher or driver leaves, cut off access to every system they used, not just email. Test your backups so you know they work.
Six Threats:
Learn how to spot them
Payment Redirection / Invoice Fraud
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A carrier, broker, or vendor sends new bank details right before a payment is due.
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A “updated” invoice arrives with a different remittance account and a rush to pay.
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The payee’s email domain is one character off from the one you’ve used before.
Phishing / Carrier & Shipper Impersonation
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A load tender or rate confirmation comes from an address that’s close to, but not, the real one.
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A customer or carrier asks you to click a link or log in to view a document.
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A shipment change arrives by email with urgent language and no call-back number you recognize
Ransomware
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Dispatch, routing, or shipping files renamed or locked after hours.
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Backups or endpoint protection turned off without anyone on staff doing it.
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Large amounts of data leaving your network to destinations you don’t recognize.
Insider Threats / Access Control
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Former dispatchers, drivers, or office staff still have logins to your systems.
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No one has reviewed who can see rates, customer lists, or load boards since they were hired.
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Offboarding removes email but leaves the transportation management and billing tools untouched.
Credential Compromise
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Logins to your load board, TMS, or fleet portal from places you’ve never been.
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Two logins too far apart in time to be the same person.
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Password reset emails for accounts you didn’t request.
Third-Party / Vendor Compromise
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A vendor, customs broker, or 3PL sends files or links you weren’t expecting.
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A software or telematics provider tells you they’ve seen unusual activity in their system.
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A portal or EDI login request arrives by email instead of through the official system.