By Gabriel T. Ruz Jr., Chief Innovation Officer, Co-Founder, and Board Member, Magaya
With a mere 12 percent of supply chain professionals currently using artificial intelligence (AI) to benefit their operations, it’s clear that opportunity abounds for early adopters. Alas, although AI is not new, its use in the freight forwarding industry is still very much in its infancy. Its time has arrived, though. As supply chains complexify and customer expectations soar to new levels, it has become a necessity for freight forwarders to turn to technology like AI simply to keep pace.
The possible uses of AI in freight forwarding are both endless and exciting. Defined by Gartner as technology that “applies advanced analysis and logic-based techniques, including machine learning (ML), to interpret events, support and automate decisions, and take actions,” artificial intelligence can be used in myriad ways to improve the freight shipping customer experience and help freight forwarders operate at new heights of speed, efficiency, and service.
AI Bots for Faster Carrier Contract Management
Uploading lengthy carrier rate contracts into a rate management system is a time-consuming, error-prone process that freight forwarders are all too familiar with. AI-powered bots can perform the same task in seconds, scanning carrier contracts into a rate management solution and parsing the data with superior levels of accuracy.
AI Transforms the Quoting Process
Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities for AI to have a positive impact on a freight forwarder’s day-to-day operations is in the quoting process. For years, the quoting process for freight has looked the same: customers email their requests, then the freight forwarder gathers rates from several different sources, pulls them back into an email, and then the exchange continues from there.
With AI, a computer can automate the whole quoting process from end-to-end: reading incoming emails, automatically extracting key data points using natural language processing, pulling rates from carriers, and bringing a formatted quote back into an email. This can save as much as 15 minutes of data entry and research time per quote and eliminate hours of back-and-forth exchanges for freight forwarders and their customers.
Faster Warehouse Operations with AI
The uses of AI for freight forwarding extend beyond the office. In high-volume warehouses, slicing just seconds off the handling time per parcel can yield impressive cumulative results. Smart freight forwarders are now using AI technology to automate the manual process of measuring, weighing, and photographing cargo as well as capturing label information and inputting it into the freight management system automatically.
The Road Ahead
The freight forwarding industry is about to experience a long-awaited renaissance. As artificial intelligence becomes more accessible, the possibilities to maximize productivity, lower costs, improve the customer experience, and increase accuracy are exciting. Now is the time for freight forwarders to learn more about how AI can address their pain points and set them up for sustainable success.
Every year, CIFFA offers an award to a young freight forwarder who best demonstrates industry knowledge and skills to become a true international freight forwarding professional in the future.
After a review process of industry experience and a written dissertation demonstrating technical knowledge, CIFFA is pleased to announce that Viktoriia Rudyk of DSV Air & Sea Inc. has been selected as the 2023 Canadian Young Logistics Professionals Award winner.
Originally from Ukraine, Viktoriia came to Canada to study the 2-year International Business Management diploma program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Vancouver, BC. In addition, she has taken the CITT and CIFFA courses, has been actively volunteering, participating at different networking events, and has worked on projects as a Student Consultant at Delta Chamber of Commerce and the World Trade Center Vancouver. After finishing her studies at BCIT, Viktoriia joined the trainee program at the Toronto branch of DSV Air & Sea Inc. At DSV she has worked as an Air Import Coordinator, an Air Export Coordinator, and currently works as an Ocean Import Team Lead in Montreal. She is a big fan of the continuous learning concept and likes the constant challenge that the freight forwarding profession offers. We asked Viktoriia why she chose to participate in the YLP Award competition and she gave us the following answer:
“I learned about the YLP Award when I was taking the CIFFA courses. After working in the transportation and logistics industry for over 3.5 years, I decided to take on a new challenge and participate in the YLP competition. I have always been passionate about creating cost-efficient and sustainable solutions for our clients and thus, writing a dissertation on a similar case study interested me. I believe that by participating in the YLP Award, I will be able to gain more industry connections and expand my knowledge on the topic of logistics.”
As this year’s Canadian winner, Viktoriia will receive a cash prize of $1,500 and will represent Canada at the FIATA Americas regional competition. This requires the submission of two dissertations. If selected as the Americas regional winner, Viktoriia will compete in the 2023 FIATA World Congress in Brussels, Belgium in the fall. Her registration fees, hotel accommodation costs during the Congress and travel costs of up to US $1,000 will be covered by the TT Club and FIATA.
Additionally, CIFFA would like to acknowledge the good efforts and exceptional work of the Young Logistics Professionals Award competition runner up, Lilian Tkachuk of Schenker of Canada Limited. Lilian holds a Bachelor’s Degree in logistics, has completed MIT micro masters courses in supply chain and a professional logistics certification in Ukraine. After moving to Canada in 2017, she continued her studies at Humber College and has obtained CITT and CIFFA certifications. Additionally, Lilian has been involved in pro-bono projects establishing logistics channels in war-torn Ukraine. She currently works as the ocean export supervisor at Schenker
(For more information on the Young Logistics Professionals Award.)
By Ian Putzger
Vancouver International Airport has initiated a project for proof of concept for a cargo community system (CCS). It will involve a handful of ground handlers, forwarders and trucking firms. The program kicks off with truck slot booking functionality and will subsequently be expanded to other features, according to Amar More, CEO of Kale Logistics Solutions, which will implement and run the CCS.
CCSs are on the advance at a growing number of North American airports – including Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago Rockford – as airport authorities see a need for a digital ecosystem for their cargo communities. Forwarders also face pressure to digitize from airlines pushing e-air waybills and online bookings, as well as from customers demanding improved visibility.
At the same time, there are internal pressures to digitize, from the need to free up overstretched personnel from routine processes to cost containment and the ability to respond faster to disruptions.
“Digitization and IT have been front and centre at OEC. We’ve invested heavily in tech in our network,” said Marc Bibeau, president and CEO of Overseas Express Consolidators. He is also CIFFA’s technology chair.
Stan Wraight, president and CEO of Strategic Aviation Solutions International, regards digitization as inevitable. “It saves money, is ecologically sound, it helps alleviate staffing shortages, and you know what’s coming,” he remarked.
Some evangelists of digitization have hailed the digital forwarder as the future of freight forwarding. While this is technologically possible, it is extremely difficult today, noted Kareem Naouri, CEO of logistics software provider LogistaaS.
“The industry is still facing some serious obstacles. Each process has to be digitized individually with carriers, with truckers and the other parties you’re dealing with. Interactions with platforms must be intuitive. Nobody is going to learn a complex system to deal with a platform,” he said.
Technology itself is less of a hurdle now, although cost is still somewhat of an obstacle for smaller forwarders at this point. Bibeau sees this change in the near future. “We’re going to get to a point where technology is available as SaaS at an affordable price,” he predicted.
More said that the technology required to interface with KALE’s CCS will be relatively straightforward for small forwarders to use, adding that there are some shortcuts to deal with technology challenges. Forwarders who are unable to transmit e-air waybills can send a system-generated PDF of their AWB to the CCS platform as an e-mail, which will convert it into the required format.
Regardless of the state of technology a company is using, one element that is indispensable is data quality. If the master file is not up to date, players find themselves in a case of garbage in, garbage out, noted Bibeau.
Mindset can be another major obstacle. Digitization helps automate internal processes, but the full potential unfolds as data flow up and down supply chains. Many companies are uncomfortable with this, though, partly out of concern over cybersecurity, partly because they don’t want to share any information that might compromise their competitive advantage. Bibeau sees this reluctance to share information as one of the biggest challenges with digitization. For supply chains to function well, transparency and access to information are paramount, he noted.
To forwarders that seek to facilitate information flow it makes sense to feed it into their transportation management system (TMS). The benefits vary a great deal, depending on the system used. Most of those currently in use are not cloud-based and have limited feature sets, noted Naouri.
“In future TMSs will be integrated, plugged into different third-party platforms and tools,” he predicted. “I think the future of a TMS will be kind of a core operating system that is integrated with different systems and apps.”
Air Canada has been one of the airlines that have driven the use of online channels to obtain pricing and book shipments. In addition to its booking functionality on its website, the carrier has engaged with the three largest online booking portals for airfreight – cargo.one, WebCargo by Freightos and CargoAI – in order to allow forwarders to connect with it through the main pricing and booking channels.
The volume of bookings through the third-party portals is not as large as what is processed through its proprietary channel, as these are recent additions to the mix, but uptake has been good across all channels, reported managing director commercial Matthieu Casey.
In some markets, including Canada, the share of online bookings is quite substantial, he said.
Most of the online bookings are for general cargo. “For special cargo we’re not quite there. It’s still early days,” he remarked.
Most customers tend to use the online channels for domestic and recurring shipments to begin with before advancing to more complex bookings as they get more used to the system, he observed. Users are not necessarily the more tech-savvy forwarders, as those tend to be more interested in more sophisticated solutions, seeking integration through APIs.
The portals are used exclusively for ad hoc shipments and price queries. Casey does not altogether rule out opening them for contract cargo, but shippers that sign contracts usually already have a good connection with the airline, he noted.
Besides price queries and bookings, for most forwarders the other major focus in digitizing external communication is on shipment visibility. The disruptions of the past two years have brought painful illustrations of the need for timely information.
“Everybody has track and trace, but if you have outdated information, you’re at a disadvantage,’ said Bibeau.
In a digitized setting shipment status information can be conveyed to clients through control towers. Likewise, forwarders can put up dashboards for customers to monitor and control shipments – without having employees spend precious time chasing shipment data and conveying them to the client.
James Coombes, CEO of Vector.ai, emphasized the importance of connecting shipment visibility information with a forwarder’s internal processes. His company provides digital freight forwarding platforms that automate processes and provide actionable visibility for aspects like accounts payable, arrival notices, pre-alerts and customs clearance workflow. Forwarders either adopt specific modules or the entire platform.
“Visibility should drive actions,” Coombes stressed. Once a forwarder receives information about a change in a shipment’s itinerary, it is necessary to communicate the requisite changes to contractors like truckers. Much of this can be automated if the flow of visibility data is digitally linked to operations, he said.
OEC complements visibility data with business intelligence and reporting, Bibeau said. Large shippers and players like DHL have embraced predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to get early warnings of potential disruptions. To that end they harness information on weather and elements like news on possible industrial action in an area that factor in a given supply chain.
This requires a more advanced state of digitisation, moving the journey to the next stage – digitalization. Whereas the former transforms existing processes into digital format, digitalization leverages digital capabilities to develop entirely new functionalities and capabilities that are digitally native.
Bibeau thinks the step into digitalization is inevitable. “I don’t think we have a choice. The world is moving at a fast pace to automated environments,” he reflected.
The spread and use of CCSs is a case in point. The need to manage truck flows and avoid landside congestion has been the spark for their adoption in recent years, but now more and more airports want to embrace a much broader spectrum of capabilities that these platforms can offer, More observed.
Moreover, there is a growing desire to connect these digital ecosystems and establish digital corridors that can provide end-to-end visibility and enable parties at both ends to align their activities virtually in real time.
“What would digital corridors between airports do? They would provide an instant alert of a delay and allow the receiving station to make the arrangements for staffing numbers, reschedule trucking etc.,” said Wraight. “If you digitize airports, pharma that arrives should be on the customer’s truck within 90 minutes after landing.”
More listed three critical elements that have to be in place for a fully fledged digital corridor. It requires shipment status tracking capability, shipment data capture and the establishment of e-customs and e-certificates of origin.
He thinks that digital corridors for the likes of Vancouver to come within reach in about a year. “First we have to get the systems in place,” he said.
For CIFFA’s technology committee, the next goals are not quite as lofty. A fairly recent creation, it first focused on cybersecurity. According to Bibeau, this has been well received. “I think we’ve given our members a good toolkit,” he said.
The next mission is going to be about operational efficiencies and technology. This will look at process automation and productivity and highlight leading practices. Interest should be high.
We already have a proven one—the Canada Border Services Agency
By Bryn Heimbeck, President and Co-Founder, Trade Tech, Inc.
There have been lot of suggestions around how to manage port congestion in the past two years. The suggestion has been made to focus on a better flow of data in order to achieve the efficiency and productivity needed for our ports to handle the large cargo flows they have been facing. This would alleviate the need for major capital improvements. In the U.S., the Department of Transportation and the Federal Maritime Commission are looking to accelerate digitization within the industry in an effort to address the challenges that are plaguing today’s supply chain.
Both the DOT and FMC have pointed to the lack of a global data standard as the challenge and calling for a new one to be created—working collaboratively with commercial organizations that will benefit from the government’s investment in the massive undertaking of creating a new standard.
We know— as most Customs House Brokers know—we do not need another data standard. We have a well-established data standard system that has been refined over the last two decades to near perfection by U.S. Customs.
The industry welcomes the government’s response and willingness to facilitate a solution to the supply chain crisis, but the DOT and FMC are overlooking that the existing U.S. Customs’ standard is already a solid foundation upon which to build.
Neutral, not-for-profit U.S. Customs and its international counterparts represent a fine-tuned global data standard that is already used by Ocean Carriers, Port Terminals, Customs Brokers, and Customs Agencies throughout the world, with the standards established by the World Customs Organization (WCO) model tying them together.
Data standards are not new.
Congestion at ports has raised calls for many reforms, including greater transparency. But the government’s call to create new data standards is misguided, as:
• WCO data standard has been followed globally since the early 1980s
• Regulations for compliance expanded in 2003 as part of increased security efforts following 9/11
• These regulations are strictly enforced by many global Customs agencies and carry heavy fines and penalties for non-compliance
A proven global data standard–U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system.
Data Standards make it easier to create, share, and integrate information. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is an exceptional system for today’s Ship, Air, Rail, and Truck transport. This foundational standard also maintains well -regulated processes and procedures. Multiple stakeholders, including carriers and ports, are tied into this digital communication system.
Under ACE:
• Every required data element must be transmitted to ACE 24 hours before cargo is loaded aboard a vessel (the timeframe for Air Shipments is shorter)
• ACE covers all contingencies for cargo movement from origin to destination including the vessel arrival at the port of entry, any in-bond movements, Permits to Transfer (PTT), Immediate Transportation Entry (IT), Immediate Export (IE), and Transport and Export (T&E). Any failure to comply results in fines ranging from a minimum of $5,000 to the value of the cargo. Truly bypassing US Customs is called smuggling and can result in potential jail time.
An ill-advised pivot to creating new standards is an enormous challenge that will likely:
• Call for a vast number of resources, both labor and capital investments
• Take several years to develop
• Require more than a decade for any substantial adoption from the industry
• Will not be adopted globally
How third-party software has become critical to succeed in freight forwarding and CHB.
The following is a contributed article by Cris Arens, Managing Partner, Logisyn
When I started my logistics career in the late 1980s, telex machines and typewriters were prominent in freight forwarding. Fax machines were almost magical when I was traveling around the world for a Chicago-based freight forwarder. While some logistics entrepreneurs had invested in a few personal computers, a good operator typing 70 words per minute was far more efficient than those old IBM machines fighting with dot matrix printers. It is still hard to believe what we accomplished without cell phones, email, internet or networked computers back in the day.
As a young man, I saw a different future and co-founded Fountainhead International. Our product was CargoWise which set out to build Windows-based systems for midsize freight forwarders in the USA and Canada.
For the past 14 years, with Logisyn Advisors Inc., a global M&A company for the logistics industry, I have pursued a new interest in mergers and acquisitions for logistics service providers (freight forwarders, truck brokers, trucking companies, e-commerce, etc).
Over the past two years, Logisyn Advisors has spent a lot of time researching and networking with logistics technology firms. Technology is core to the M&A integration process. Smart buyers and sellers need their advisors to understand this space. From startups to the new unicorns we have met many interesting tech entrepreneurs around the world. The industry has come a long way in terms of technology; however, Logisyn Advisors believes this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The five main points below apply to freight forwarders around the world who should all be asking these types of questions.
For privately held companies, ownership’s long-term strategy is critical in determining tech budgets. If ownership has built a lifestyle business with a strategy to hand off to the next generation or exit 2-10 years down the road, you needed to begin investing in technology yesterday. In contrast, if you are planning on pursuing an exit strategy in the near future, switching systems may hurt your valuation short term. If you sell the firm to a strategic buyer (versus a financial buyer who would use the company as a platform), the new owners will be on their own TMS / visibility system. They will most likely have you switch again. Implementing new technology is painful, so make sure you think this area out before you start your research.
If you are a multinational freight forwarder who needs customs capabilities in multiple countries with full global accounting…. your TMS solution was most likely already mentioned in this article. That game is over until a new competitor steps forward with a real global solution. However, if you are a 50-employee Canadian freight forwarder with offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, you don’t necessarily need or want that complexity or expense. There are great TMS providers out there for mid-size forwarders who have deep domain knowledge with country specific or regional expertise. With the new integration tools and companies focused on logistics (chain.io for example) you can integrate with customers, agents and vendors around the world even if they are on different systems.
Shippers and consignees are demanding information solutions from their logistics providers that were just a dream 10 years ago. The list includes difficult shipment routings / tracking requirements at every step of the supply chain, visibility software, OCR standardization, electronic bookings with all vendors, global payment systems, AI enabled document automation, are just a few examples. Seamless integrations to customer ERP systems and competing TMS systems will become a requirement to compete.
Logisyn Advisors has spent a lot of time and money researching and writing about this topic in the logistics tech sector. Do not underestimate the importance of the adoption of quality visibility software. Every TMS provider claims to have visibility software, but if you ask the freight forwarders or their customers, many disagree that current TMS visibility solutions meet the new customer requirements. The unicorns in this space have convinced their investors that they will change the game. Firms like FourKites and Project 44 are the current leaders, but there are more coming.
(A research paper on this topic is available.)
It is always about the customer. COVID did so much damage to the world, but it also forced us to think and act differently. One positive side effect is it made global freight companies and their customers see the value of investing in technology. For the small and mid-size CIFFA members without large IT budgets, that can seem daunting, but don’t forget your main advantage. You can be nimble and move fast. When a firm has thousands of employees on legacy systems, implementing technology needs to go through committee and testing processes that can take six months to two years. Use your advantage.
Before the 2002 dot.com bubble hit, financial institutions were throwing money at tech companies promising to cut out the freight forwarder. We kept a list of firms that had raised over $10M on a whiteboard in my office. We always resented these companies because we had worked around the clock living on credit cards to build a real product. In contrast, these firms had raised millions of dollars selling vaporware via PowerPoints to financial people who did not understand the industry. When the tech crash happened, our team felt vindicated when we crossed names off the whiteboard competitor list.
Twenty years later, we are in a different environment. But with rising interest rates, money has become more expensive for investors and they will want their portfolio companies to become profitable sooner than later. If your software partners had a Series A, Series B, Series C…into infinity fundraising strategy, make sure you have bet on the right horse.
We always seem to be moving from one crisis to another in logistics. It is the life we have chosen and the tech changes are going to change the game. With that said, Logisyn believes the small / midsize freight forwarders can thrive with technology in the new environment; but it will require strategic planning.
For more information about TMS providers best suited for both large and small freight forwarders in Canada, and about the interesting tech ecosystem building up around the TMS providers,please email max.arens@logisyn.com.
The Government of Canada launched the National Cyber Security Strategy Consultation this summer, requesting feedback to the changing digital landscape and the exposure to cyber threats and cybercrime.
An eight-week public consultation ran until August 19, 2022, with contribution from a broad range of Canadians.
Canada’s National Cyber Security Strategy was initially launched in 2018. Since that time new technologies and international events have impacted how we use the internet, and increased potential risks. The COVID-19 pandemic and the significant increase in ransomware are just two examples of events that have changed considerations around cyber security since the Strategy’s release.
Input received will be compiled and analyzed to identify key themes, ideas and suggestions to help inform and guide the Renewal of the National Cyber Security Strategy. Results may be used to inform policy and may be shared within the Government of Canada. Public Safety Canada will retain completed online survey and email submissions in order to develop a summary of findings and to develop a high-level public report.
Goal 1: Secure and Resilient Canadian Systems:
The threats we face in cyberspace are complex and rapidly evolving. Governments, businesses, organizations, and Canadians are vulnerable. With more of our economy and essential services moving online every year, the stakes could not be higher.
In terms of concerns related to cyber security, cybercrime, etc., and how the Government of Canada could help to better protect individuals and organizations, CIFFA indicated that :
“ Our members are struggling with assessing the risks that they face and the level of investment those risks justify in Cybersecurity and/or Cyber insurance premiums. It would be helpful to have a risk calculator developed by the Government of Canada that would allow them to establish appropriate budgets.
Our members are also concerned about risks (unintentional or otherwise) from with their firms. Clear guidance on what they can and cannot do with respect to monitoring the use of company IT would be helpful. This is especially true in Work from Home situations.”
Goal 2: An Innovative and Adaptive Cyber Ecosystem
In terms of Cyber Security Awareness, and initiatives needed to help increase cyber security awareness for all, CIFFA indicated that:
“We would like to see the Government of Canada advertising the resources that have been made available (www.getcybersafe.gc.ca). The advertising should be broadcast across as many channels as possible and specifically address securing Work from Home environments.
We would like the Government of Canada to partner with Associations like ours to get the message out to Members. The Government should provide a quarterly bulletin that we can incorporate into our regular Member communications. We would like access to more up-to-date information. In many cases the information provided by the Government of Canada is 10 years old.”
Agile and Adaptive Cyber Security Capabilities
What steps should be taken to secure networks, emerging technologies, and to better protect Intellectual Property and consumer products (like Internet-of-Things and apps)?
CIFFA responded that it would like to see the Government of Canada certify any device that attaches to the network as meeting Cybersecurity standards.
“We would also like to see the introduction of penalties for firms that deploy apps and/or hardware that collect and disseminate information for which they do not have appropriate permission. “We would like to see clearer guidelines for reporting Cybersecurity incidents. We would also like to see the process clarified and simplified. When do members contact police, privacy commissioner, etc.?”
Cyber Skills and Talent Pipeline
What can be done to increase Canada’s cyber security workforce capacity and create job-ready workers? (For example, is there a mismatch between the in-demand skills and the skills of post-secondary graduates, is there a misalignment between job descriptions and the experience of candidates, is there a need for standardized curricula and outcomes, access to work-integrated learning opportunities, and short-cycle training and upskilling for workers and graduates, etc.?)
CIFFA noted that “we believe that there are unique cybersecurity concerns in the supply chain for which skills are not being developed. We recommend, in cooperation with the Government of Canada, the development of a short cycle training program that is made available to our members to ensure their staff have the appropriate skills for dealing with these unique challenges.”
Goal 3: Effective Leadership, Governance and Collaboration
What is needed to strengthen collaboration and engagement on common interests between the provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and Municipal governments, regulators, private sector, academia, not-for profits, labour organizations and the Government of Canada?
CIFFA would like to see cooperation between the Government of Canada and providers of cybersecurity insurance so that a common understanding of the risks and ways to mitigate the risks in the most cost effective manner can be developed and shared with our members.
What can the Government of Canada do to help shape the international cyber security environment in Canada’s favour and advance Canada’s international cybersecurity interests?
Finally, CIFFA indicated it would like to see the Government’s support and/or participation in the global initiatives to enhance cybersecurity in the supply chain. This includes topics as diverse as smart sensors (IOT) and Blockchain.
A CIFFA Member to Member Webinar on Cybersecurity – “How to Protect Your Business, Tomorrow”, was held June 28, 2022, offered as follow-up to the 10 Best Cybersecurity Practices paper created by CIFFA’s Technology Committee.
A panel of seasoned professionals provided expert advice and best practices on how to protect your business – both before and after a cyber attack.
Many cyber attacks happen because hackers spot a security vulnerability and exploit it. They can do this by: brute-forcing the password, eavesdropping on communications, and extracting personal information through phishing attacks, and through many other means.
Moderated by Drew Simons – Principal, Roxville Technology Inc., webinar panelists included John Berry – SVP of Information Technology, OEC Group, Shawn Davidson – President, Trapp Technology, Ashish Mathur – Global CIO, ECU Worldwide, and Aadhar (Ady) Sharma – Vice President, AON.
According to Trapp Technology, today’s most common threats and attacks include: social engineering (human error), phishing, (a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious software on the victim’s infrastructure like ransomware), vishing, (just one form of phishing, which is any type of message – such as an email, text, phone call or direct-chat message – that appears to be from a trusted source, but isn’t-(the goal is to steal someone’s identity or money), and smishing, (a phishing cybersecurity attack carried out over mobile text messaging, also known as SMS phishing), ransomware (Crypto Locker), distributed denial of service (DDoS), (a cybercrime in which the attacker floods a server with internet traffic to prevent users from accessing connected online services and sites), brute force attacks, (uses trial-and-error to guess login info, encryption keys, or find a hidden web page), and man-in-the-middle, a type of cyber attack in which the attacker secretly intercepts and relays messages between two parties who believe they are communicating directly with each other. The attack is a type of eavesdropping in which the attacker intercepts and then controls the entire conversation.
Attacks like drive by downloads exist when a hacker creates a vector for malware delivery — online message, ads, legitimate program downloads. You interact with the vector for example by clicking a deceptive link.
The most common and the most prominent ways that ransomware enters an organization are the following: e-mail link, 31%, e-mail attachment, 28%, and via website or web app, 24%, (with unknown at 9%, social media at 4%, USB stick 3%, and business application 1%.)
As guidance, unsolicited emails should not be trusted, nor should funds be sent to people who request them by email, especially not before checking with leadership. Spam should always be filtered, and an antivirus, firewall and detection programs installed and kept up to date.
Never click on unknown links in email messages.
Also, beware of email attachments. If you get one from what looks like a friend, contact them independently to ensure that they actually sent it.
Slow down. Hackers want you to act first and think later. Never let someone’s urgency prohibit your careful review of the situation. Delete any request for information that seems suspicious. Do not reply or forward the message.
Any email that randomly asks you to change your password or payment information could be a scam (phishing) and must be verified by other means of communication. Phishing is one of the most successful forms of social engineering attacks used today.
The government or any financial institution will never contact you using email to request private information.
Cyber insurance: what’s its role?
According to AON, the role of cyber insurance is to help protect an organization with pre-breach assessments, access to pre-vetted vendors, and cyber security information. Assistance can be provided via forensic investigators, legal services, credit monitoring, call center services, crisis management and public relations.
Proper insurance enables a business to return to “operational”, accounts for the loss of revenue, income and turnover, and accounts for costs incurred to recreate or restore data and information.
Insurance can also mitigate legal costs and damages from claims alleging privacy breach or network security failure.
Cyber insurance can offer coverage for items such as breach event expenses, for example reimbursement coverage for the insured’s costs to respond to a data privacy or security incident.
Policy triggers vary but are typically based on discovery of an event, or a statutory obligation to notify consumers of an event.
Insurance can also cover digital asset restoration, cyber extortion, network business interruption, system failure, dependent business interruption, dependent system failure, privacy and network security liability, privacy regulatory fines and penalties, media liability, and PCI fines and penalties.
The Fall 2022 issue of the Forwarder is largely dedicated to the topic of Technology and the trends and issues forwarders and other supply chain stakeholders face in adopting it, adapting to it, and harnessing it for success and transparency.
Evolving technology is pushing the boundaries and changing how the world does business. While some of the effects can disrupt the logistics industry, over the long run they can also help leverage the use of automation, workflow optimization, digitization and artificial intelligence. In the context of the supply chain, improved technology has also increased productivity, minimized costs and errors, enhanced customer experienced value, and facilitated data-sharing to multiple sources in real time. These advancements should be explored and analyzed in detail by the freight forwarding community, ensuring that they are well informed and prepared to meet the future demand. (Download Full Magazine)
TORONTO, December 5,2022 — CIFFA, the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, has appointed Julia Kuzeljevich to the position of Director, Policy and Regulatory Affairs.
Formerly in the role of Director, Policy and Communications, Julia will now assume more responsibility for CIFFA’s government relations files, at all levels of government and working with CIFFA’s lobbyist in Ottawa.
The role reflects CIFFA’s increasingly active Advocacy agenda on multiple fronts and reports to the Executive Director.
Commenting on the appointment, CIFFA Executive Director Bruce Rodgers said “CIFFA is taking a more proactive approach in addressing our membership needs with legislative officials. This new appointment better reflects the direction and requirements of our Association.”
The role is effective immediately.
The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) represents some 300 regular member firms including freight forwarding, freight brokerage and drayage companies. CIFFA member companies employ tens of thousands of highly skilled international trade and transportation specialists. As a vital component of Canada’s global supply chain, member firms of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) facilitate the movement of goods around the world. We provide a vital link in Canada’s global supply chains, enhancing export capabilities and assisting in the delivery of competitive solutions to Canada’s importing and exporting communities.
On October 5, 2022, CIFFA’s Executive Director Bruce Rodgers and Director, Policy and Communications Julia Kuzeljevich presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee regarding Anticipated Labour Shortages in the Transportation sector.
CIFFA was one of three witness groups. Also participating were:
Each group presented an opening statement which was followed by a government Q&A period.
CIFFA thanks its Board of Directors for providing input and content to be addressed.
The questions primarily related to driver shortages and underground economy through Drivers Inc.
We were able to table the following points: supply chain challenges, off-shoring activities, the National Occupation Classification system and the need for a comprehensive National Trade Corridors strategy.
The following text is CIFFA’s written submission as sent to the Clerk:
Remarks of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association To The House Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities
October 5, 2022
Thank you Mr. Chairman for inviting Bruce and me to speak on this critical issue.
Monsieur le président et mesdames et messieurs les membres du Comité, au nom de l’ATIC, l’Association des transitaires internationaux canadiens, nous vous remercions de nous donner cette occasion aujourd’hui de nous adresser à vous.
Before we start, we’d like to compliment the committee for your diligence in chasing these issues, which are so serious and so complex. It means a lot to all of us in the industry that you are looking for any solutions government might provide.
The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) represents some 300 regular member firms from the largest of global multi-national freight forwarding firms to small and medium sized Canadian companies. CIFFA member companies employ tens of thousands of highly skilled international trade and transportation specialists.
Our members are the front line of Canada’s supply chain, managing the majority of freight shipments. But it’s important to note that we also represent Drayage operators – these are the truckers serving the ports and container terminals where you have seen such congestion in recent years, and the Freight Brokers – who manage the movement of cross border trade.
The human resource problems in the supply chain are critical and are NOT getting better. Many of the problems are tied up with the frustrations of the supply chain itself.
People used to make their money on speed and volume. Today that’s impossible in many areas.
We have a short, less than 2-minute video, which one of our members recorded that illustrates a small but contributing part of the problem. A copy has been sent to the clerk.
In the video you would see 65 trucks, lined up waiting to get into the one of the Rail yards in Vaughan, Ontario. This is the equivalent length of approximately 40 football fields. These trucks are trying to return empty containers which are required to facilitate export trade.
It’s important to understand that these drivers make their money by moving containers between the rail yards and importers and exporters. As they sit idle they are losing money. It’s hard to recruit new drivers when everyone can see how hazardous a business it’s become. Rising fuel and insurance costs only add to the problem.
The CIFFA member who recorded this told us he had 8 drivers in this line, and none got into the yard that day. Their drivers waited in excess of 5 hours, only to have the gates closed due to Terminal congestion.
By the way, this congestion in Vaughan is actually connected to Canada’s West Coast. Government put significant pressure on the rail providers, terminals operators and the port of Vancouver to clear the backlog and ships at anchorage. The rationale was to facilitate the export of grain. We all understand that priority, but the improved flow in Vancouver doesn’t indicate we solved the problems; we just moved them further inland, to Toronto and Montreal.
So, unfortunately, our first “suggestion” for addressing workforce shortages is to fix the terrible problems affecting the supply chain.
As Parliamentarians you’ll make your own decisions about how interventionist the government should be. Our laissez-faire, market driven system has worked well for decades, but the transport sector is having trouble resetting itself.
The chronic uncertainties that are frustrating consumers are also squeezing the workers and the problem is not getting better.
And in the video there were no porta-potties along that line. A problem for all drivers, but especially for women.
Thanks to the committee again for your attention to this issue and we welcome your questions.