Wilkens: Why industry-wide data sharing is the only defense against record cargo and cybercrime

Historically, we kept our cards close to the vest about cargo crimes and to cybersecurity breaches that impacted us. This trend is shifting, and we are now, as an industry, starting to reap the benefits of collaboration, but we have further to go. We must continue to push for more openness across the industry about cyberattacks and cargo thefts. When we share lessons learned and early warnings with other fleets regarding what we’re facing in our own operations, we begin to harden the entire transportation ecosystem.

Now, more than ever, this is absolutely vital as we are seeing record levels of both cyberattacks and cargo crimes. In 2025 alone, Verisk CargoNet reported more than $725 million in losses from cargo crimes. Cybercrime numbers from the FBI’s IC3 annual report were even more stark, reporting nearly $21 billion in losses from reported cybercrimes in the U.S. across all industries. These losses are staggering; they represent issues that require a whole industry approach. Going it alone is no longer a viable option.

What does this collaboration look like? It looks like standing with our peers and saying: “We experienced a cyber event. This is what we learned.” It looks like proactively sharing the techniques cybercriminals and cargo thieves use to target our fleets. It looks like breaking down the walls between operations teams and security teams and building a true culture of security within our organizations.

Sounds simple, right? What’s the catch? The catch is that this is hard work, and it takes time. For too long, we’ve been battening the hatches and keeping our negative experiences internal. It’s not easy to raise our hands and tell our peers that something went wrong. There has also been a lack of good ways to share this information securely.

The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) recently launched a beta test of one possible solution to the information-sharing challenge, featuring a closed Threat Report Portal accessible only to verified members of the transportation community. This is designed to provide a mechanism for fleets to report cybercrime and cargo crime techniques, both those that were successful and those they detected and stopped. The full release of this Threat Report Portal is scheduled for May 2026.

Collaboration raises both awareness and readiness across the sector; when we do so, we make it more difficult for bad actors to take advantage of our organizations and those of our peers. Helping our peers protect themselves also serves the dual purpose of lowering the risk to our own organizations. When our partners are more secure, we are more secure.

Within our own operations, breaking down silos and the communication firewalls between teams is an important component of building a robust security culture. This security culture facilitates more open communication about lessons learned, both internally and with peers. When security is baked into every aspect of the organization, the instinct is first to protect the organization and then to protect the industry more broadly. This, in turn, leads to better collaboration across the entire sector.