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INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT
Operational Audit
Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime
August 2024 - August 2025
Issue Date: December 4, 2025
Report No. 2025-24
Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Background ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Audit Scope and Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 5
Appendix A: Risk Ratings ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime
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Executive Summary
Internal Audit (IA) completed an audit titled Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime for the period
August 2024, through August 2025. Based on internal discussions and scoping decisions, the audit
solely focused on Maritime. The audit was performed to gain an overall understanding and to determine
whether the Port’s processes, specifically related to revenue billing and payroll, operated effectively
during and immediately after the cyber event. IA tested the flow and transfer of information from each
respective department to Accounting and Financial Reporting (AFR) Billing.
The Maritime Division oversees the cruise business, four recreational marinas, Terminal 91, Fishermen’s
Terminal, various industrial and commercial properties, along with the central harbor portfolio, and
conference and event centers.
On August 24, 2024, the Port identified system outages consistent with a cyberattack. Incident
response processes were initiated, and systems were deliberately taken “off-line.” The Port partnered
with third parties and federal partners and restored systems, once it was deemed safe.
Due to the manual nature of processes within Maritime, the impact of monitoring and accounting for
revenue was minimally impacted. For example, prior to the cyberattack, Fishermen’s Terminal staff
performed daily boat checks to determine what boats are moored. This check is performed twice each
day and the information was recorded by hand in a notebook and then entered into the Marina Vessel
Management System (MVMS). The manual recording continued, uninterupted, and the information
was entered into MVMS once it was restored, several months later.
In general, we concluded that Port management’s, monitoring, compliance, and internal controls
aligned with established policies and procedures. We did not identify any issues that warranted
reporting.
Glenn Fernandes, CPA
Director, Internal Audit
Responsible Management Team
Stephanie Jones Stebbins, Managing Director Maritime
Lisa Lam, Director, Accounting and Financial Reporting
Delmas Whittaker, Chief Operating Officer Maritime
Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime
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Background
In August 2024, the Port experienced a widescale cyberattack carried out by a known criminal
organization called Rhysida. Unusual and unathorized activity was detected and isolated but the attack
impacted Port businesses and hindered many services.
The Maritime Division within the Port manages industrial property connected with maritime business,
marinas, Fishermen’s Terminal, cruise, grain and maritime operations. They are tasked with
overseeing the cruise business, four recreational marinas, Terminal 91, Fishermen’s Terminal, various
industrial and commercial properties, along with the central harbor portfolio and conference and event
centers. The table below reflects operating revenues (in 000s) from each Maritime sector as of 2024,
2023, and 2022 (Source: 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report).
Maritime Division
2024
2023
2022
Cruise Operations
36,723
40,372
29,197
Recreational Boating
17,663
16,584
14,957
Maritime Portfolio
6,875
6,070
8,608
Fishing and Operations
10,567
10,451
9,524
Grain Terminal
4,478
1,887
4,297
Other
12
(81)
179
Total Maritime Operating Revenues
76,318
75,283
66,762
Based on total operating revenues over the past three years, we opted to focus on the following three
departments during our audit: Cruise Operations, Recreational Boating, and Fishing and Operations.
While each of the departments has its own unique processes and procedures, they all heavily rely on
manual controls, such as twice daily boat checks and secondary reviews when reporting revenues.
Recordkeeping is primarily captured in Excel before being submitted to AFR and/or PeopleSoft. The
manual nature of processes minimized the impact of monitoring and accounting for revenue. However,
because PeopleSoft was offline, customer billings were delayed.
Payroll processing was also affected. To make sure employees were paid on time, the Port’s Payroll
team opted to pay employees based on their last paycheck immediately prior to the cyberattack. This
occurred for one pay period until an interim process was used that relied on excel spreadsheets to
track employee hours. Finally, when systems, including Maximo and PeopleSoft were restored, payroll
processes resumed to “normal” operations. However, many corrections and adjustments were
identified.
These corrections and adjustments were identified when Payroll prepared individual reconciliation
statements for each employee. Payments to underpaid employees were made by the middle of
November. Employees who received overpayments were contacted individually and given the option
to pay back the amount in full or set up repayment plans. As of early 2025, Payroll has been fully back
to normal operations.
Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime
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Audit Scope and Methodology
We conducted this performance audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing
Standards (GAGAS) and The Institute of Internal Auditors’ Global Internal Audit Standards. These
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide
a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe the
evidence obtained provides such a basis.
We used a risk-based, judgmental approach to select items for testing. As a result, the findings reflect
only the items tested and should not be interpreted as representative of, or extrapolated to, the entire
population.
The period audited was August 2024, through August 2025 and included the following procedures:
Interviews and Process Walkthroughs
• Conducted walkthroughs and inquiries with key employees in the selected departments (Cruises,
Fishing, and Recreational Boating) to gain an understanding of:
o Each department’s typical daily operations, as well as their operations post-cyberattack
o How revenue is being recorded and billed
• Conducted inquiries with the Port’s Payroll department to gain an understanding of how Payroll
was processed immediately after the cyberattack, as well as how both overpayments and
underpayments were resolved
• Conducted walkthroughs and inquiries with Marine Maintenance to gain an understanding of how
payroll was processed until Maximo was reinstated
Document Review
• Obtained and reviewed key documents, such as:
o Internal Excel workbooks and spreadsheets prepared by each department for AFR
o PeopleSoft reports (i.e. Billing Batch Detail Reports, Interface Detail Summary)
o Payroll records and pay stubs for selected employees
o Listings of over and underpayments to employees
Validation and Testing
• Billing of Revenue:
o Selected two months from the audit period (September 2024 and July 2025) and
performed detail testing for each of the three departments selected
o Verified that the internally prepared revenue schedules agreed to PeopleSoft
o Investigated and inquired about variances
• Payroll Processing:
o Selected ten hourly Maritime employees and tested five different pay periods for each
o Verified and recalculated each employee’s paystub to check the mathematical accuracy
of total earnings using hours submitted multiplied by hourly rate
o Investigated and inquired about variances
o Verified that each employee was appropriately included in the listing of over and
underpayments
Recovery Effort – Data Integrity - Maritime
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Appendix A: Risk Ratings
Observations identified during the audit are assigned a risk rating, as outlined in the table below. Only
one of the criteria needs to be met for an observation to be rated High, Medium, or Low. Low rated
observations will be evaluated and may or may not be reflected in the final report.
Rating
Internal
Controls
Compliance
Public
Commission/
Management
High
Missing or
partial
controls
Non-compliance
with Laws, Port
Policies,
Contracts
High probability
for external audit
issues and / or
negative public
perception
Requires
immediate
attention
Medium
Partial
controls
Not
functioning
effectively
Partial
compliance with
Laws, Port
Policies
Contracts
Moderate
probability for
external audit
issues and / or
negative public
perception
Requires
attention
Low
Functioning
as intended
but could be
enhanced
Mostly
with Laws, Port
Policies,
Contracts
Low probability
for external audit
issues and/or
negative public
perception
Does not
require
immediate
attention