Mitigating Cyber-Risks in Air Forwarding: Strategies for 2026

The High Stakes of Cyber-Risk for Air Forwarders

The airfreight forwarding sector is becoming a high-value target for cybercriminals—and for good reason. As noted by the Airforwarders Association (AfA), the logistics sector experienced a 71% increase in ransomware incidents over the past year, with air cargo and forwarding operations particularly vulnerable given their international, interconnected systems. (Airforwarders Association)

According to the World Economic Forum, the annual chance of a cyber incident for air-transport firms is about 30%, higher than for other parts of the logistics sector. (aircargoweek.com)

What does all this mean for forwarders? For you, the consequences of a breach or outage go well beyond lost data—it could mean shipments delayed, carriers unable to load/export, customs filings disrupted, and contracts broken.

The digital and physical sides of air cargo are now tightly bound; a successful cyber-attack can literally stop planes from loading or trucks from picking up freight. (Logisber)

Why Air Forwarders Are Especially At Risk

Here are several factors making forwarders (and their partners) prime cyber-targets:

1. Complex and interconnected operations.
Forwarders coordinate flights, warehouses, ground handlers, customs filings, e-AWB systems, APIs with airlines and carriers—each link is a potential entry point. This makes supply-chain-based attacks more feasible. (huntandhackett.com)

2. Legacy systems + rapid digitisation.
Many forwarders have adopted digital tools in recent years (e.g., e-AWB, cloud booking platforms, IoT in warehouses) but often still rely on legacy systems or third-party platforms that haven’t had strong security built-in.

A recent report flagged air transport firms running unpatched code, weak vendor oversight and low-budget security. (aircargoweek.com)

3. Time-sensitive, high-value operations.
Delays or disruptions in air forwarding can cascade quickly—missed flights, customs hold-ups, customer penalties. Attackers know this, and that means higher leverage (e.g., ransomware).

For example, one report noted that although ransomware may be only ~2.8 % of incidents, it accounts for ~84 % of losses in the air-freight sector. (aircargoweek.com)

4. Supply-chain/third-party risk.
Forwarders depend on many partners: ground handlers, software vendors, carriers, customs brokers. A weakness in one link (vendor, broker, warehouse) often becomes the entry point.

As one source states: “A compromise at one partner can grant access to shared platforms, data, or credentials.” (huntandhackett.com)

5. Regulatory pressure and reputational risk.
Regulations (e.g., data protection, key infrastructure requirements in some jurisdictions) are catching up. A cyber incident not only has operational cost but also reputational damage, contract loss, insurer scrutiny and regulatory fines. (Logisber)

Emerging Threats in 2026 Forwarders Should Monitor

Here are some of the more specific trends that air-forwarders should pay attention to:

• Supply-chain attacks & vendor compromise: Attackers are increasingly infiltrating smaller vendors/partners to pivot into bigger organizations. (huntandhackett.com)

• Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) targeting logistics infrastructure: For example, the U.S. saw a 136% increase in APT activity targeting transportation/logistics between late 2024 and early 2025. (FreightWaves)

• Ransomware + file-less malware: Some campaigns now deploy malware via legitimate tools (living off the land) and exploit unpatched systems, making detection harder. (FreightWaves)

• Physical cargo theft via cyber means: There are cases of hackers collaborating with organised crime to hijack real-world shipments by faking instructions or intercepting logistic flows. (TechRadar)

• IoT/OT vulnerabilities: As warehouses, ground equipment, and logistics hubs use more connected devices (IoT/OT), these non-traditional systems become targets. (blog.cfglobal.co)

• Regulatory & geopolitical risk: State-sponsored actors increasingly view logistics as strategic. As one article noted: “Logistics companies can become collateral damage or even primary targets in state-level conflicts.” (huntandhackett.com)

Practical Cyber-Resilience Checklist for Forwarders

Here’s a tailored action list to help you keep ahead of threats — prioritized for the specific realities of air-forwarding operations.

✅ Immediate Defensive Measures

• Conduct a cyber security audit of your operations: identify critical systems (booking/exports/air-waybills/ground handling), map who has access, what third-parties are connected, what data flows. (thecooperativelogisticsnetwork.com)

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all critical systems and vendor-access portals. Put strongest controls around systems that handle pricing, routing, customer PII, AWBs. (thecooperativelogisticsnetwork.com)

• Implement regular patch management: keep all software (including third-party vendor systems) up-to-date, especially for booking platforms, APIs, warehouse management software. (aircargoweek.com)

• Establish data backups & disaster recovery: Given the ransomware threat, you need fast recovery from backups stored securely (offsite/cloud) and tested. (thecooperativelogisticsnetwork.com)

• Monitor systems continuously: use logging, intrusion detection, anomaly detection for access to booking/airwaybill/warehouse systems. Surface unusual behaviour early. (thecooperativelogisticsnetwork.com)

🛠 Vendor & Supply-Chain Hardening

• Map your vendor ecosystem: which carriers, brokers, software providers connect to your systems or share data? What are their cyber-postures? (huntandhackett.com)

• Include cyber-security clauses in vendor contracts (e.g., requirement for third-party audits, encryption of data, incident reporting obligations).

• Segment access: ensure vendors have least-privilege access to your systems; if they have access, restrict what they can do.

• Share threat intelligence across the network: join industry groups, benchmarking communities, or associations like AfA. Collective awareness raises resilience. (World Economic Forum)

📣 Culture, Processes & Incident Planning

• Train all staff (booking agents, warehouse staff, ground handlers, dispatch) on phishing, social engineering, basic cyber-hygiene. Humans remain the weak link. (Logisber)

• Draft and test an incident response plan: Who does what if booking software gets locked? What happens if data is stolen? What forensics will you do? What communications with customers and carriers? Who will be in charge of getting systems up and running? 

• Regularly review and update the plan: as your processes or systems change (new e-platforms, IoT devices, ground-handling interfaces) the risk map changes too.

• Consider cyber-insurance: Some industry programs (e.g., via AfA) provide tailored cyber-risk management plus insurance for forwarders. (Airforwarders Association)

📊 Strategic / Forward-Looking

• As you adopt more digital tools (cloud booking, e-AWB, IoT in warehouse, AI routing), make sure security is built-in from the start (not tacked on). Huntress

• Consider cyber-resilience (not just prevention): Recognize that attacks will happen; ensure your business operations can continue or recover quickly. Supply-chain disruptions can ripple widely.

• Engage with industry standards: Keep an eye on frameworks (e.g., NIS2 Directive in Europe, NIST 800-171 in the US) and emerging guidelines for logistics cyber-resilience. (Logisber)

• Invest in visibility: Use threat-intelligence tools, dark-web monitoring (for credentials), attack surface management — the 2025 threat-report suggests more than 64% of ‘stealer logs’ target transportation/warehousing. (SocRadar)

Why Cyber-Resilience Is a Competitive Advantage

Beyond avoiding losses, a strong cyber posture can be a differentiator for your business. Customers, carriers, airlines and customs authorities increasingly value supply-chain integrity. If your systems are secure and your processes resilient, you can:

• Win better contracts (with higher confidence from shippers/carriers)

• Avoid penalties for delays or non-compliance due to disruptions

• Protect your brand/reputation (a breach can be hugely expensive, even if you “only” lost data)

• Maintain operational continuity even when events (cyber incidents, global disruptions) hit

As one article puts it: “Cybersecurity is no longer optional for airforwarders.” (Airforwarders Association)

Final Word

For air-forwarders, the message is clear: the digital transformation of the industry is well underway—and so are the cyber-threats. But this isn’t just an IT department challenge. It’s a business-continuity and supply-chain-integrity challenge. If you treat cyber-risk as an operational risk (which it is), and act with vigilance and structure, you can not only survive but gain advantage through resilience.

Here are three questions you should ask this week:

1. If our booking/air-waybill system went down tomorrow due to a cyber-attack, what is our recovery time?

2. Which of our vendors/partners have direct access to our systems or data—and when did we last assess their cybersecurity posture?

3. Have all staff (including warehouse, ground-handler, dispatch) been trained in phishing/social engineering in the past 12 months?

Start with those, build your roadmap—and you’ll be far better positioned to face whatever threats the next six-twelve months bring.

If you would like to speak with our Cyber Professionals at Veroot and join our growing list of Clients who are taking action against an ever rising threat landscape, please email us at Cyber@veroot.com.