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Maritime Cyber Threats Research
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Maritime Cyber Threats Research

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2023) | Viewed by 15644

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kevin Jones

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
Interests: maritime cyber-security; formal verification; cyber-physical risk assessment
Dr. Kimberly Tam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
Interests: cyber-security; maritime cybersecurity; computer systems and engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Background: Global supply chains rely heavily on maritime transportation. This sector is also responsible for providing food and, in the future, may also provide a key source of renewable energy.

Aim and scope: Given the importance and increased digitisation of systems at sea, this Special Issue is interested in maritime cyber threats, risks, and safety. We are seeking research on cyber threats in the context of maritime systems, from information technology to operational technology, the human element, autonomy, and infrastructure.

History: Maritime cybersecurity is a relatively new branch of both maritime and cybersecurity research.
Cutting-edge researches: We welcome cutting-edge research on how cyber-physical threats are understood, discovered, and assessed. New technical, social, and technical-social studies are ongoing to mitigate these issues, especially as systems become more complex and even automated.

What kind of paper we are looking for:  We are looking for multi-disciplinary works that are relevant to this sector. Though it is often difficult to publish work in maritime-only or cybersecurity-only venues, there is a growing audience interested in this niche topic, and so this Special Issue intends to provide such an opportunity.

Global supply chains rely heavily on maritime transportation. This sector is also responsible for providing food and, in the future, may also present a key source of renewable energy. Given the importance and increased digitisation of systems at sea, this special branch of research is interested in maritime cyber threats, risks, and safety. This Special Issue is dedicated to research on cyber threats in the context of maritime systems, from information technology to operational technology, the human element, autonomy, and infrastructure. We aim to bring researchers together from academia, industry, and the government to present ongoing research on the maritime systems of today, as well as to discuss the threats they may face in the future. We are seeking multi-disciplinary works relevant to this sector. 

Prof. Dr. Kevin Jones
Dr. Kimberly Tam
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cybersecurity
  • autonomy
  • human factors
  • threat intelligence
  • information technology
  • operational technology
  • social-technical
  • cyber-physical
  • risk assessment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5258 KiB  
Article
Vulnerability of Clean-Label Poisoning Attack for Object Detection in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships
by Changui Lee and Seojeong Lee
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(6), 1179; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11061179 - 5 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3207
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an important role in realizing maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs). However, as a double-edged sword, this new technology brings forth new threats. The purpose of this study is to raise awareness among stakeholders regarding the potential security threats [...] Read more.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an important role in realizing maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs). However, as a double-edged sword, this new technology brings forth new threats. The purpose of this study is to raise awareness among stakeholders regarding the potential security threats posed by AI in MASSs. To achieve this, we propose a hypothetical attack scenario in which a clean-label poisoning attack was executed on an object detection model, which resulted in boats being misclassified as ferries, thus preventing the detection of pirates approaching a boat. We used the poison frog algorithm to generate poisoning instances, and trained a YOLOv5 model with both clean and poisoned data. Despite the high accuracy of the model, it misclassified boats as ferries owing to the poisoning of the target instance. Although the experiment was conducted under limited conditions, we confirmed vulnerabilities in the object detection algorithm. This misclassification could lead to inaccurate AI decision making and accidents. The hypothetical scenario proposed in this study emphasizes the vulnerability of object detection models to clean-label poisoning attacks, and the need for mitigation strategies against security threats posed by AI in the maritime industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Cyber Threats Research)
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23 pages, 718 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of a Cyber Risk Assessment Approach for Cyber–Physical Systems: Maritime- and Energy-Use Cases
by Ahmed Amro and Vasileios Gkioulos
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(4), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11040744 - 29 Mar 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2890
Abstract
In various domains such as energy, manufacturing, and maritime, cyber–physical systems (CPSs) have seen increased interest. Both academia and industry have focused on the cybersecurity aspects of such systems. The assessment of cyber risks in a CPS is a popular research area with [...] Read more.
In various domains such as energy, manufacturing, and maritime, cyber–physical systems (CPSs) have seen increased interest. Both academia and industry have focused on the cybersecurity aspects of such systems. The assessment of cyber risks in a CPS is a popular research area with many existing approaches that aim to suggest relevant methods and practices. However, few works have addressed the extensive and objective evaluation of the proposed approaches. In this paper, a standard-aligned evaluation methodology is presented and empirically conducted to evaluate a newly proposed cyber risk assessment approach for CPSs. The approach, which is called FMECA-ATT&CK is based on failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) risk assessment process and enriched with the semantics and encoded knowledge in the Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge framework (ATT&CK). Several experts were involved in conducting two risk assessment processes, FMECA-ATT&CK and Bow-Tie, against two use cases in different application domains, particularly an autonomous passenger ship (APS) as a maritime-use case and a digital substation as an energy-use case. This allows for the evaluation of the approach based on a group of characteristics, namely, applicability, feasibility, accuracy, comprehensiveness, adaptability, scalability, and usability. The results highlight the positive utility of FMECA-ATT&CK in model-based, design-level, and component-level cyber risk assessment of CPSs with several identified directions for improvements. Moreover, the standard-aligned evaluation method and the evaluation characteristics have been demonstrated as enablers for the thorough evaluation of cyber risk assessment methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Cyber Threats Research)
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27 pages, 1133 KiB  
Article
Raising the Standard of Maritime Voyage Data Recorder Security
by Rory Hopcraft, Avanthika Vineetha Harish, Kimberly Tam and Kevin Jones
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(2), 267; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020267 - 24 Jan 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 7688
Abstract
Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs), often referred to as the ‘black boxes’ of the shipping industry, collect and store vital data from key sensors and locations around the ship. This data plays a pivotal role in incident investigation, as was seen in the grounding [...] Read more.
Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs), often referred to as the ‘black boxes’ of the shipping industry, collect and store vital data from key sensors and locations around the ship. This data plays a pivotal role in incident investigation, as was seen in the grounding of the Costa Concordia in 2012, and the sinking of the El Faro in 2015. With such an important role to play, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has mandated that all SOLAS registered ships carry a VDR, which can demonstrate compliance with internationally agreed standards. Without a VDR compliant with these standards a ship cannot sail. However, the rise in the number, and sophistication, of digital devices are making the sector increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This paper will demonstrate a number of high-risk VDR cyber security vulnerabilities and review the current international technical standards covering all VDR devices being manufactured and used today, drawing attention to the minimum security requirements. The paper will go on to discuss how these standards fail to promote the necessary levels of cyber security needed to protect VDRs from today’s cyber risks, amidst increased demands for digital connectivity for remote and autonomous operations. The paper will conclude by proposing several amendments (technical and non-technical) to the current standards which, if adopted, will help increase the minimum level of security of VDRs. Industry opinions were gathered on this topic, and their beliefs have been included across this paper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Cyber Threats Research)
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