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Wary of hackers, Biden orders new cybersecurity measures at U.S. ports
President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that creates new rules to shore up security at American ports — and commits $20 billion to replace Chinese-made cranes that U.S. officials worry could be vulnerable to hacking and remote control.
The executive order empowers the U.S. Coast Guard to respond to cybersecurity incidents at ports, and lays out a new set of safety regulations that port operators must follow to fend off digital attackers.
“Most critical infrastructure owners and operators have a list of safety regulations they have to comply with,” said Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor at the White House. “We want to ensure that there are similar requirements for cyber, when a cyberattack can cause just as much, if not more, damage than a storm or another physical threat.”
Nationwide, roughly 31 million jobs and $5.4 trillion in economic activity are linked to trade that passes through ports, all of which could be disrupted by a ransomware or other type of cyberattack, Neuberger said.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach constitute the largest container port facility in the hemisphere, handling 9.9 million and 9.1 million TEUs — twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard volume metric in ocean shipping — respectively, in 2022. The San Pedro complex in Los Angeles handles 29% of all container-based trade in the U.S., and nearly 20% of all U.S. seaport trade.
That volume of cargo is loaded on and off of ships by a forest of roughly 150 cranes, most of which are manufactured by one company: Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., or ZPMC. The company says that it controls around 70% of the global market for cranes, and 80% of the U.S. market, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Rear Adm. John Vann, who heads the U.S. Coast Guard’s Cyber Command, confirmed that 80% number to reporters, and added that their computerized control systems leave them vulnerable to attack. Although the San Pedro port complex is owned and administered by public agencies, the terminals are leased to private companies, which purchase and operate their own cranes.
As part of the $20-billion investment in port infrastructure, the White House also announced that a U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese industrial giant Mitsui is “planning to onshore domestic manufacturing capacity for American and Korean production for the first time in 30 years, pending final site and partner selection.” The announcement did not include details of how these new cranes and the money to buy them will reach private port terminal operators in San Pedro and beyond.
The executive order is part of the Biden administration’s focus on protecting critical infrastructure such as power grids, ports and pipelines, most of which are controlled by networked software and therefore vulnerable to hacks. There is no set of nationwide standards that govern how operators should protect against potential attacks online.
The threat continues to grow. Hostile activity in cyberspace — from spying to the planting of malware to infect and disrupt a country’s infrastructure — has become a hallmark of modern geopolitical rivalry.
For example, in 2021, the operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline had to temporarily halt operations after it fell victim to a ransomware attack in which hackers held its data hostage in exchange for money. The company, Colonial Pipeline, paid $4.4 million to a Russia-based hacker group, though Justice Department officials later recovered much of the money.
Ports too are vulnerable. In Australia last year, a cyberattack forced one of the country’s largest port operators to suspend operations for three days.
The Port of L.A. was subject to roughly 754 million cyber-intrusion threats in 2023, according to an article by its executive director, Gene Seroka, published this month. The port has been an industry leader in cybersecurity efforts for years, since establishing a dedicated Cyber Security Operations Center in 2014 and adding the Cyber Resilience Center to allow all the various companies and agencies cooperating at the port to coordinate their cybersecurity efforts in 2022.
Late last month, U.S. officials said they had disrupted a state-backed Chinese effort to plant malware that could be used to damage civilian infrastructure. Vann said this type of potential attack was a concern as officials pushed for new standards, but they are also worried about the possibility for criminal activity.
Vann said that Coast Guard cyber protection teams had “assessed cybersecurity or hunted for threats” on nearly half of the Chinese-manufactured cranes in the U.S. to date and will continue to monitor the current stock of cranes across the nation.
The new standards, which will be subject to a public comment period, will be required for any port operator and there will be penalties for failing to comply, though the officials did not outline them. They require port operators to notify authorities when they have been victims of a cyberattack, and give the Coast Guard, which regulates the nation’s ports, the ability to respond to cyberattacks and enforce the new rules.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison made his case directly to theater owners Thursday, pledging to release a minimum of 30 films a year from the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery company during a speech at the CinemaCon trade convention in Las Vegas.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison said in a brief on-stage speech, adding that Paramount has already nearly doubled its film lineup for this year with 15 planned releases, up from eight in 2025.
He also said all films will remain in theaters exclusively for 45 days, starting Thursday. Films will then go to streaming platforms in 90 days. The amount of time that films stay in theaters — known as windowing — has been a controversial topic for theater owners, as some studios reduced that period during the pandemic. Theater operators have said the shortened window has trained audiences to wait to watch films at home and cuts into theater revenues.
“I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to elevating and preserving film,” said Ellison, clad in a dark jacket and shirt with blue jeans. “And at Paramount, we want to tell even more great stories on the big screen — stories that make people think, laugh, dream, wonder and feel — and we want to share them with as broad an audience as possible.”
Ellison’s CinemaCon appearance comes as more than 1,000 Hollywood actors and creatives have signed a letter opposing Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Supporters of the letter have said the deal would reduce competition in the industry and “further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape.”
Some theater operators have also questioned whether the combined company could achieve its goal of releasing 30 films a year, particularly after the cost cuts that are expected after the merger closes.
“People can speculate all they want — but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment,” Ellison said. “And we’ll show you we mean it.”
The speech came after a star-studded video directed by “Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu that was shot on the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue and showcased directors and actors including Issa Rae, Will Smith, Chris Pratt, James Cameron and Timothée Chalamet that are working with the company.
The video closed with “Top Gun” actor Tom Cruise perched atop the Paramount water tower.
“As you saw, the Paramount lot is alive again,” Ellison said after the video. “And we could not be more excited.”
new video loaded: Why Your Paycheck Feels Smaller
By Ben Casselman, Nour Idriss, Sutton Raphael and Stephanie Swart
April 18, 2026
Nearly two years after actor Alec Baldwin was cleared of criminal charges in the “Rust” movie shooting death, a long simmering civil negligence case is inching toward a trial this fall.
On Friday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a summary judgment motion requested by the film producers Rust Movie Productions LLC, as well as actor-producer Baldwin and his firm El Dorado Pictures to dismiss the case.
During a hearing, Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter set an Oct. 12 trial date.
The negligence suit was brought more than four years ago by Serge Svetnoy, who served as the chief lighting technician on the problem-plagued western film. Svetnoy was close friends with cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and held her in his arms as she lay dying on the floor of the New Mexico movie set. Baldwin’s firearm had discharged, launching a .45 caliber bullet, which struck and killed her.
The Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M. in 2021.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Svetnoy was the first crew member of the ill-fated western to bring a lawsuit against the producers, alleging they were negligent in Hutchins’ October 2021 death. He maintains he has suffered trauma in the years since. In addition to negligence, his lawsuit also accuses the producers of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Baldwin, who has long maintained he was not responsible for Hutchins’ death.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision denying the motions for summary judgment filed by Rust Movie Productions and Mr. Baldwin,” lawyers Gary Dordick and John Upton, who represent Svetnoy, said in a statement following the hearing. “He looks forward to finally having his day in court on this long-pending matter.”
The judge denied the defendants’ request to dismiss the negligence, emotional distress and punitive damages claims. One count directed at Baldwin, alleging assault, was dropped.
Svetnoy has said the bullet whizzed past his head and “narrowly missed him,” according to the gaffer’s suit.
Attorneys representing Baldwin and the producers were not immediately available for comment.
Svetnoy and Hutchins had been friends for more than five years and worked together on nine film productions. Both were immigrants from Ukraine, and they spent holidays together with their families.
On Oct. 21, 2021, he was helping prepare for an afternoon of filming in a wooden church on Bonanza Creek Ranch. Hutchins was conversing with Baldwin to set up a camera angle that Hutchins wanted to depict: a close-up image of the barrel of Baldwin’s revolver.
The day had been chaotic because Hutchins’ union camera crew had walked off the set to protest the lack of nearby housing and previous alleged safety violations with the firearms on the set.
Instead of postponing filming to resolve the labor dispute, producers pushed forward, crew members alleged.
New Mexico prosecutors prevailed in a criminal case against the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, in March 2024. She served more than a year in a state women’s prison for her involuntary manslaughter conviction before being released last year.
Baldwin faced a similar charge, but the case against him unraveled spectacularly.
On the second day of his July 2024 trial, his criminal defense attorneys — Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro — presented evidence that prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies withheld evidence that may have helped his defense . The judge was furious, setting Baldwin free.
Variety first reported on Friday’s court action.
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