A novel cyber-risk assessment method for ship systems

TLDR

Maritime vessels are increasingly equipped with smart functionalities and autonomy, but this connectivity raises vulnerability to cyber‑attacks that can cause financial loss, environmental damage, and safety incidents. This study proposes a novel cybersecurity risk assessment method for ship systems. The method extends Cyber‑Preliminary Hazard Analysis with additional steps to identify attack scenarios and assess risk, and it is applied to the navigation and propulsion systems of an inland waterways autonomous vessel. The assessment reveals several critical scenarios that can be mitigated through design modifications.

Abstract

Recent advances in the maritime industry include research and development of new sophisticated ships with a number of smart functionalities and enhanced autonomy. The new functions and autonomy levels though come at the cost of increased connectivity. This results in increased ship vulnerability to cyber-attacks, which may lead to financial loss, environmental pollution, safety accidents. The aim of this study is to propose a novel method for cybersecurity risk assessment of ship systems. In this novel method, the Cyber-Preliminary Hazard Analysis method steps are enriched with new steps supporting the identification of cyber-attack scenarios and the risk assessment implementation. The proposed method is applied for the cyber-risk assessment and design enhancement of the navigation and propulsion systems of an inland waterways autonomous vessel. The results demonstrate that several critical scenarios can arise on the investigated autonomous vessel due to known vulnerabilities. These can be sufficiently controlled by introducing appropriate modifications to the systems design.