Advice is cheap when it stays on a slide. This note explains how the alliance actually works with a port or a terminal team once it has joined: the sequence, the people, what is free, and what is not.
The first call
Within two working days of your application, an engineer writes to you to fix a one-hour video call. Bring the two self-assessment PDFs if you ran them. The call has one goal: agree on the three actions that would most reduce your exposure in the next month, given your systems and your people. You leave with a written list, not a proposal.
The ten hours
Membership includes ten hours of engineering advice. They are spent in one-hour calls, on what you decide: reviewing how your TOS is reached from outside, walking your operations team through a tabletop exercise, reading a vendor questionnaire before you sign, checking that a backup can actually be restored. Your member area shows how many hours remain. Unused hours are not a problem; wasted ones are, so we keep each call to a precise question.
On site, when it makes sense
Some things cannot be seen on a screen: a gate booth, a crane PLC cabinet, who badges into the server room. When a visit is useful, you order the free « Come to us » request from your member area, with dates, address and a short brief in the order notes. You send the invitation and cover the travel (flights, hotel, meals, taxis); our days on site are not invoiced during the launch period. We confirm within a week.
Between calls
You receive the monthly threat report, and, when something urgent concerns ports, a short alert. If you see something on your side, you tell us; we anonymise it and the whole alliance benefits. Members who want code rather than advice get the open source packages first, with a short session on how to integrate them.
What is free and what is not
| Free | Paid |
|---|---|
| Membership, member area, 10 advisory hours | Additional hour packs, once the 10 hours are used |
| Both self-assessments, the monthly threat report | A managed detection service for your terminal (SIEM with AI agents, quoted after a scoping call) |
| Our days on site during the launch period | Travel costs, which the member covers |
| Public open source packages | Adapting a package to your site, quoted |
Who you talk to
Engineers who have integrated terminal operating systems, truck appointment systems and gate equipment in working ports, and who run the detection stack we recommend. No account manager stands between you and them. The person who answers your application is the person who takes your first call.
The engineers are those of DMS Logistics, the group behind Port Cyber Alliance.
Keep reading
- Welcome to Port Cyber Alliance
- What you can use today, and how
- Founding membership: advisory calls and site visits
