U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent communication out to stakeholders recommending that all members of the trade community add a Technical Point of Contact (POC) designated for cybersecurity to their ACE portal account. This would allow CBP to contact businesses if a legitimate cybersecurity threat is identified, and that a rapid response can be taken if required.
CBP has seen a dramatic increase in cyberattacks on the trade community in recent years and believes that connecting with trade chain members to resolve disruptions can potentially mitigate or lessen these impacts.
CBP adds that this will aid your business by:
- Reducing doubt about the legitimacy of both the cyberattack and the notification from a CBP official.
- Providing CBP the correct person to contact for technical and cybersecurity related information.
- Expediting collaborative efforts to intercept and mitigate the impacts of an identified threat.
To add a cybersecurity POC, ACE account users must begin by completing the steps required to add a general POC as described in the Modernized ACE Portal User Guide.
Information on adding a POC to an ACE account is available beginning on page 42.
- Select “Technical Point of Contact” in the “Type” drop down menu field.
- Include “Cybersecurity” in parentheses after the contact’s last name. For example, for a cybersecurity POC named John Doe, the last name field would read “Doe (Cybersecurity).”
Additionally, organizations can review the Cyber Incident Guidance for Customs Brokers, and the Indicators of Compromise and Other Cyber Incident Reporting Guidance on the Cybersecurity Resiliency webpage.
Please send questions regarding this message to TMOD@cbp.dhs.gov.