Derbycon 2018: Ship hacking — a primer for today's pirate
Presentation delivered during the Derbycon 2018 conference.
Presentation delivered during the Derbycon 2018 conference.
This article is also available in French.
Who might want to target maritime information systems?
Intentional threat sources are broadly similar to those encountered in other sectors. Rather than reproducing a long and exhaustive list of possible threat actors, it is worth noting that the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI has already documented them in detail (see p. 15 and following pages in the reference below).
Today, the most realistic threat sources include:
This article is also available in French.
The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has announced the opening of its International Maritime Cyber Centre of Excellence (IMCCE) in Singapore. Developed in partnership with Templar Executives, the IMCCE includes a maritime CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) and a cybersecurity training center. The primary objective is to enable rapid response in the event of incidents and to improve overall understanding of cyber risks in the maritime sector.
This article is also available in French.
Those among you who have read the latest U.S. National Cyber Strategy, published in September and signed by President Trump himself, will have noticed several interesting points related to cyber and maritime issues. These appear on page 18 of the document (just before the section on the space sector). Below is a quick copy/paste of the relevant paragraph:
IMPROVING CYBERSECURITY IN THE TRANSPORTATION AND MARITIME SECTORS:
This article is also available in French.
The Port of Rotterdam announced today the appointment of its Port Cyber Resilience Officer.
René de Vries, shown below, now holds the position of Port Cyber Resilience Officer (Port CRO). He operates under a joint mandate from the police, the municipality, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

Among his responsibilities are improving the cyber resilience of the port (it is worth recalling that the port was affected by the NotPetya attack), raising awareness of cybersecurity issues among stakeholders, strengthening organizational training and preparedness, and improving overall risk management.
This article is also available in French.
More than 250 participants from various backgrounds attended the second “Maritime Cyber Security” seminar in Singapore. The seminar, co-organized by the port authority and the shipowners’ association, took place during Singapore Maritime Week. A summary of the seminar is available on the MPA website.

Among the topics discussed during the seminar, it was notably announced that the Port Authority of Singapore would establish a maritime cybersecurity operations center operating 24/7 during the third quarter of 2018, with the objective of strengthening capabilities for detection, monitoring, analysis, and response.