Modern cruise software is no longer one isolated system. It is an ecosystem of open source packages, vendor integrations, cloud services, APIs, CI/CD pipelines, shipboard systems, shoreside platforms, and developer tools. AI is making that ecosystem move even faster. Development teams can prototype, refactor, test, and maintain software more efficiently than ever. But attackers can also use AI to inspect public code, identify weak points, generate convincing malicious packages, and automate scans against newly exposed environments.
For cruise and ferry operators, this makes software supply chain security a practical business issue. The risk is not limited to the code your team writes. It also includes the packages, tools, integrations, build scripts, deployment workflows, cloud environments, and third party services that help bring software into production.
At OnDeck, we see this complexity up close. Each year, our Cruise Mobile App Report analyzes the digital tools, guest-facing features, performance patterns, and security issues shaping the cruise app landscape. That research gives us a practical view of the many components that go into cruise technology and the risks operators need to manage as apps become more connected and more central to the guest journey.
What Software Supply Chain Security Means for Cruise Lines
Software supply chain security protects the components and processes involved in building and running software. That includes source code, open source libraries, package registries, build systems, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure templates, developer tools, and third party services. The OWASP Software Supply Chain Security Cheat Sheet is a useful reference for how broad this risk area has become.
For cruise lines, the stakes are operational. A passenger-facing app may connect to itineraries, reservations, folio data, excursion bookings, dining systems, loyalty tools, notifications, and onboard services. A shipboard platform may need to exchange data with shoreside systems, support intermittent connectivity, and integrate with multiple onboard vendors.
Open source software and third party integrations are not the problem. They are essential to modern development. The risk comes from using them without visibility, review, monitoring, and clear ownership.
Why AI Changes the Risk
AI tools are helping software teams move faster, and that speed can be valuable for cruise technology teams working across complex integrations, guest-facing systems, and operational requirements.
However, the same speed can create risk when automation moves faster than governance. AI can help attackers research code, generate exploit ideas, create credible-looking package descriptions, and automate parts of their reconnaissance. It can also help internal teams push updates and maintenance work through the release process more quickly.
The issue is not AI itself, but speed without the right controls. Cruise lines should be able to benefit from AI-enabled development while still keeping human review, dependency scanning, release controls, and monitoring in the workflow.
Open Source Dependencies Need Governance
Modern cruise software relies on open source packages for authentication, logging, image processing, API clients, data validation, mobile build steps, infrastructure automation, and thousands of other tasks.
The right approach is not to avoid open source. The right approach is to manage it. Cruise technology teams need visibility into which packages are used, which versions are installed, which dependencies are direct or transitive, and which components may introduce risk. A Software Bill of Materials, or SBOM, can help create that visibility. CISA describes an SBOM as a nested inventory, or ingredient list, for software components.
That framing is useful because cruise operators already understand vendor accountability. Just as operators need to know which vendors support the onboard experience, technology teams need to know which components support their applications and release processes.
Instant Updates Are Not Always Safer
Keeping software dependencies current is important. Old packages can contain known vulnerabilities, and delaying security updates for too long creates unnecessary exposure. The nuance is that updating instantly is not always the safest path. Newly published package versions can be malicious, broken, or compromised before maintainers, researchers, registries, and automated scanning systems have enough time to detect the issue.
That is why some teams use cooldown periods for new packages and dependency updates. Instead of pulling a new package version the moment it appears, the team waits a short period before adoption. During that window, suspicious behavior may be detected, a bad release may be removed, or an advisory may surface.
For cruise technology teams, the goal is balance. Security updates should not sit untouched for months. At the same time, automated dependency updates should not move directly into systems that support guest experience, operational workflows, or sensitive data without appropriate review.
New Environments Can Become Visible Quickly
Cruise technology teams often need to create new environments for testing, staging, demos, vessel rollouts, new brands, integrations, or regional deployments. Cloud infrastructure makes this easier than ever. It can also create risk when environments become reachable before they are hardened. Public signals such as DNS records and Certificate Transparency logs can make newly created environments visible to scanners.
Certificate Transparency exists for good reasons, including helping detect misissued certificates. Let’s Encrypt describes Certificate Transparency as a system for logging and monitoring TLS certificate issuance. The tradeoff is that new subdomains may become easier to discover.
For cruise and ferry operators, setup sequencing matters. Teams should avoid exposing blank, partial, or misconfigured environments while certificates, DNS, access controls, firewalls, integrations, and deployment workflows are still being finalized.
What Stronger Cruise Software Security Looks Like
Stronger cruise software security starts with visibility. Teams need to know which applications, packages, integrations, environments, secrets, workflows, and vendors are part of the technology ecosystem. Stronger security also requires dependency governance. New packages should be reviewed, dependency updates should be scanned, and lockfiles and deterministic installs should be used where appropriate. Automated update tools should be configured by risk, not treated as autopilot.
Build and release pipelines need the same attention. Deployment credentials should use least privilege, third party actions and build steps should be reviewed, and production releases should be gated. Build artifacts should be traceable to source commits.
Monitoring and response planning matter too. Cruise technology teams need to detect unusual application behavior, unexpected network activity, errors, performance issues, failed builds, and suspicious dependency activity. They also need a plan for rotating credentials, rebuilding artifacts, disabling deployments, and removing risky dependencies when needed.
How OnDeck Helps Cruise and Ferry Operators Manage This Risk
At OnDeck by Sourcetoad, we build, integrate, and support digital systems for cruise and ferry operators. That gives us a practical view of the technology realities behind passenger apps, onboard systems, shipboard-to-shoreside integrations, and fleetwide digital operations.
Our approach to security is workflow based. Security is not something added at the end of a project; rather, it is part of how software is selected, built, tested, deployed, monitored, and maintained. That includes dependency review, malware scanning in CI/CD, updated package tooling, cooldown periods for new packages and dependency updates, human review of automated changes, safer environment setup, monitoring, and alerting.
For cruise and ferry technology teams who want a clearer view of where supply chain risk may be entering the release process, OnDeck is offering a focused CI/CD pipeline audit. This audit provides a practical, engineering-led assessment of how code moves from development to production, where dependencies enter the process, how packages and build steps are reviewed, how secrets and deployment credentials are handled, and where stronger controls may be needed.
Cruise technology is moving quickly, and the cruise lines that benefit most will be the ones that pair speed with disciplined engineering. OnDeck helps cruise and ferry operators modernize with confidence, and a focused CI/CD pipeline audit is a practical place to start.