Logistics, freight, and transportation
Logistics Cybersecurity for 3PLs, Forwarders, and Carriers
Logistics cybersecurity means keeping freight, data, and payments moving across systems you do not fully control: shipper EDI, carrier portals, customs filings, and the TMS in the middle. Invadel tests those integrations, the warehouse network, and the staff who dispatch and pay, at a fixed price with a free retest.
The stakes
Why logistics cybersecurity is different
Attackers go after logistics companies for cargo, money, and leverage. Freight fraud has moved online: a broker’s load board account taken over, a real carrier’s identity used to book and steal a load, or a phished dispatcher who changes the remit-to address on a carrier invoice. FMCSA has warned motor carriers about phishing emails that impersonate the agency. Ransomware that reaches the TMS or the warehouse system stops trucks at the dock, and a stopped dock pushes owners to pay fast.
The requirements arrive through customs programs and customer contracts. CTPAT members must regularly test the security of their IT infrastructure and correct vulnerabilities as soon as feasible. Licensed customs brokers must notify CBP within 72 hours of discovering a breach of records relating to their customs business. Shippers send security questionnaires, and some ask 3PLs for a SOC 2 report. Cyber insurers ask about MFA, remote access, and backups at renewal.
A generic test looks at the office network and the website and misses the integrations that carry the business. Logistics exposure runs through AS2 and SFTP endpoints receiving load tenders, the APIs behind tracking and rate quotes, and portals with thousands of outside users. Telematics platforms and the warehouse floor’s scanners and Wi-Fi add more. Testers need to understand how a load tender becomes a pickup, a delivery, and an invoice.
What we test
The systems attackers go after first
TMS, EDI, and partner APIs
The transportation management system and the AS2, SFTP, and API endpoints exchanging 204 load tenders, 214 status messages, and 210 invoices, tested for weak authentication, replay, and data exposure between partners.
Customer and carrier portals
Tracking, quoting, booking, and carrier onboarding portals, tested for authorization flaws between accounts, weak identity checks during onboarding, and exposure of shipment and payment details.
Warehouse networks and WMS
The warehouse management system, RF scanners, label printers, and floor Wi-Fi, tested for reach into the corporate network and for automation controllers sitting on a flat network.
Telematics and ELD platforms
Fleet portals, driver apps, and in-cab devices that report location and hours of service, tested at the portal, API, mobile app, and device layers where the scope includes them.
Email, dispatch, and carrier payments
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and the workflows behind carrier setup, remit-to changes, and quick pay, tested for MFA gaps, forwarding rules, and changes accepted on email alone.
Dispatchers, brokers, and AP staff
Phishing, voice, and text campaigns built around real freight workflows: a spoofed load board message, a carrier asking to update bank details, or a fake FMCSA notice.
Compliance
The frameworks that usually apply
CTPAT
CBP’s Minimum Security Criteria for 3PLs, highway carriers, and customs brokers require members using network systems to regularly test the security of their IT infrastructure.
- SOC 2
The report shippers ask 3PLs and logistics software vendors for, with the penetration test as core evidence for the Security criteria.
Customs broker rules
Under 19 CFR 111.21(b), licensed customs brokers must notify CBP within 72 hours of discovering a breach of electronic or physical records relating to their customs business.
- Cyber insurance
Renewal forms often ask carriers, brokers, and 3PLs about MFA on email and remote access, and whether backups would let operations resume after ransomware. Test and retest results document the answers.
Services
What logistics companies usually buy
- From $4,000
API Penetration Testing Services
REST, GraphQL, and SOAP testing for broken authorization, token flaws, and data exposure, with every endpoint in scope, from $4,000.
- From $5,200
Web Application Penetration Testing
Manual testing of your web application across the OWASP Top 10, business logic, and all user roles, with a free retest included, from $5,200.
- From $4,200
External Network Penetration Testing
Testing of your internet-facing perimeter, from exposed services and VPN gateways to mail and cloud edges, with a free retest, from $4,200.
- From $6,000
Internal Network Penetration Testing
Testing from an assumed foothold inside your network: Active Directory attack paths, lateral movement, and segmentation, from $6,000.
- From $3,600
Phishing Simulation & Social Engineering Testing
Phishing and social engineering campaigns that measure real-world human risk, with click and credential metrics by department, from $3,600.
Customs and customer requirements
What CBP, shippers, and insurers ask logistics companies for
Logistics companies rarely answer to a single cybersecurity regulator. The requirements come from customs programs, the Coast Guard at the port, customer contracts, and insurers. These are the ones that come up most, and what an engagement puts in the file for each.
CTPAT Minimum Security Criteria
- What it asks
- Criterion 4.3: members using network systems must regularly test the security of their IT infrastructure and correct vulnerabilities as soon as feasible. Other criteria cover social engineering, remote access, and individually assigned accounts.
- What goes in the file
- Validated scans on a schedule through a vulnerability management program, plus a penetration test and retest of the systems that matter most
Customs broker records (19 CFR 111.21)
- What it asks
- Notice to CBP within 72 hours of discovering a breach of records relating to customs business, including any known compromised importer numbers
- What goes in the file
- A test of the systems and mailboxes holding entry and client records, showing what an attacker could reach and export
Coast Guard cybersecurity rule
- What it asks
- For owners and operators of facilities and U.S.-flagged vessels with MTSA security plans: a penetration test in conjunction with Cybersecurity Plan renewal
- What goes in the file
- Testing scoped with the facility’s cybersecurity officer, and a letter certifying the test for the Facility Security Assessment
Shipper security questionnaires
- What it asks
- A recent independent penetration test of the systems that hold their data, MFA, and proof that serious findings were fixed
- What goes in the file
- An attestation letter to return with the questionnaire, the technical report for your IT team or TMS vendor, and retest results showing each fix
Cyber insurers
- What it asks
- MFA on email, the TMS, and remote access, and backups that would let dispatch restart after ransomware
- What goes in the file
- An external test and a ransomware readiness assessment showing whether the TMS and backups would survive an attack
How it runs
Typical engagements
Illustrative scopes for this industry, written to show what a test covers and what you walk away with.
They are not client stories; our anonymized engagements are on the case studies page.
Typical engagement
3PL answering a retailer’s security questionnaire
A regional 3PL onboarding a national retailer receives a questionnaire asking for a recent penetration test of the systems that exchange order and inventory data. We test the EDI and API endpoints, the customer portal across two customer accounts, and the external perimeter. One customer’s account can list another customer’s inventory by changing an API parameter. The fix is retested within the engagement, and the attestation letter goes back with the questionnaire.
Typical engagement
Freight broker after a carrier payment fraud
A freight brokerage pays a carrier invoice into a fraudster’s bank account after a remit-to change arrives by email. We run a phishing and voice campaign against carrier setup and accounts payable staff, review the Microsoft 365 tenant for forwarding rules and MFA gaps, and test the carrier onboarding portal for weak identity checks. The report ranks the fixes, starting with a verified callback for every payment change, and the portal fixes are retested at no cost.
Typical engagement
Customs broker and forwarder near Port Newark
A customs broker and freight forwarder near Port Newark joins CTPAT and needs evidence that it regularly tests its IT infrastructure. We run an internal test from a staff workstation toward the entry filing system and client records, test the remote access gateway from outside, and set up quarterly validated scans. The compliance lead gets a findings record for the CTPAT file and a clear view of what a breach reportable to CBP within 72 hours would expose.
FAQ
What logistics and freight companies ask
01Is logistics and transportation cybersecurity regulated?
Not by a single regulator. CTPAT members that use network systems must regularly test the security of their IT infrastructure under CBP’s Minimum Security Criteria. Licensed customs brokers must report a breach of customs records to CBP within 72 hours. Owners and operators of port facilities and U.S.-flagged vessels with MTSA security plans fall under the Coast Guard’s cybersecurity rule, which calls for a penetration test in conjunction with Cybersecurity Plan renewal. For most 3PLs, brokers, and carriers, the stronger pressure comes from customer contracts and insurers.
02What should a 3PL or freight broker test first?
The integrations and the payment path. An API penetration test from $4,000 covers the EDI, tracking, and booking endpoints partners call, and a phishing campaign from $3,600 tests the carrier setup and remit-to process that freight fraud depends on. A Microsoft 365 security assessment from $4,200 checks the mailbox settings behind both. Our API penetration testing guide explains how partner integrations are scoped.
03Can you test telematics and ELD systems?
Yes. We test fleet portals, driver apps, and the APIs behind them, and in-cab devices at the firmware, debug port, and radio layers through hardware penetration testing, from $5,200 for a small device. ELD providers certify their own devices against FMCSA’s technical specification. That self-certification covers conformity with the specification. It is not a penetration test of your fleet portal, driver app, or TMS integration.
04Can you test a warehouse without stopping operations?
Yes. Warehouse testing runs in agreed windows, stays away from anything that controls conveyors or sortation during operations, and never uses denial-of-service techniques. We test the network the WMS, scanners, and Wi-Fi share, and whether it reaches the corporate network. Automation controllers are covered with plant-safe methods through OT and ICS penetration testing, scoped and quoted per site.
05Can a penetration test help with double brokering and carrier identity fraud?
Partly. A test cannot stop someone from impersonating a carrier, but it shows whether your own process would catch the impersonation. We test the carrier onboarding portal’s identity checks, the load board and TMS accounts attackers try to take over, and the email and phone workflow for remit-to changes, using phishing and voice pretexting built around real freight scenarios. The fixes are usually process as much as technology: a verified callback for every bank change, MFA on every load board and TMS account, and alerts when payment details change.
06How much does cybersecurity testing cost for a logistics company?
API testing starts at $4,000, external network testing at $4,200, web application testing at $5,200, internal network testing at $6,000, and a phishing campaign at $3,600. Each price is fixed in writing before work starts, and the penetration tests include a free retest of remediated findings. A typical first engagement combines the API or portal test with phishing, quoted as one number. Every starting price is on our penetration testing pricing page.
07Do you work with logistics companies around Port Newark and JFK?
Yes. We are headquartered in Manhattan and work on site with logistics operators in New Jersey, from Port Newark and Elizabeth to the Turnpike warehouses, and with freight forwarders and air cargo firms around JFK. Operators elsewhere are tested remotely through a small device we ship, at the same fixed prices.
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