Abstract
This paper takes a close look at the landscape of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) as a major source of information for maritime situational awareness (MSA) and identifies its vulnerabilities and challenges for safe navigation and shipping. As an important subset of cyber threats affecting many maritime systems, the AIS is subject to problems of tampering and reliability; indeed, the messages received may be inadvertently false, jammed, or intentionally spoofed. A systematic literature review was conducted for this article, complemented by a case study of a specific spoofing event near Elba in December 2019, which confirmed that the typical maritime AIS could be easily spoofed and generate erroneous position information. This intentional spoofing has affected navigation in international waters and passage through territorial waters. The maritime industry is neither immune to cyberattacks nor fully prepared for the risks associated with the use of modern digital systems. Maintaining seaworthiness in the face of the impact of digital technologies requires a robust cybersecurity framework.
Highlights
Maritime industry stakeholders built the Automatic Identification System (AIS) with the goal of improving maritime safety, security, and maritime situational awareness (MSA)
In the first phase, planning focused on defining a review question to guide the search: “What are the implications of AIS spoofing in the maritime domain?” The second phase identified the appropriate time frame for documents to be included from relevant research databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, Google Scholar and open sources
Kessler pointed out that the vulnerability of the AIS very high frequency (VHF) broadcast frequency can lead to bandwidth usurpation by potential attackers who can prevent other devices from transmitting, negatively affect the synchronization process, or change slot reservation/assignment information [28]
Summary
Maritime industry stakeholders built the AIS with the goal of improving maritime safety, security, and MSA. AIS provides the OOW with the most accurate and detailed data on all detected targets This is very important for the OOW, especially targets that are at risk of or dangerously close to collision [2]. The data from AIS can be integrated into the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA) and chart systems (Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) or Electronic Chart Systems (ECS)) [2,3]. This provides the OOW with an additional source of navigation data (e.g., Closest Point of Approach (CPA)) that can help the OOW navigate or mislead him when the AIS station is spoofed. The use of AIS on ships has increased the safety of navigation, it is important to emphasize that AIS is not intended to guide navigation but to exchange navigational and other relevant data between ships and shore stations [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
