This article was first published in the January 2018 edition of Marine & Maritime Gazette, and the original article can be found on page 16 here.
At the start of 2017 we had an article published on cybersecurity and the present cyber-threats to the marine industry. Now, at the end of the year, we review this again in light of new guidance and current concerns in this area.
Back in August, the Government Office for Science published Future of the Sea: Cyber Security, as commissioned by the “Foresight Future of the Sea” Project. Future of the Sea contextualises the threat to the maritime industry within the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy. Amongst other things it identifies vessels, which contain cyber-physical IT systems, as particularly vulnerable to interference from cyber threats.
Future of the Sea identifies three main areas of attack across the maritime sector:
- increased connectivity and reliance on digital components;
- increased levels of autonomous control; and
- globally accessible navigation systems.
Potential technological developments within the maritime industry merit “special attention”, including advances in communication, improved sensing and intelligent and…
