Publicity about piracy has made megayacht owners and their crew all too aware of physical threats to their yachts and themselves. But as Trevor Bond (pictured below), head of sales for SELEX Elsag’s Marine & Yacht Technologies, explains, most high-tech security measures still leave owners exposed to cyber attacks, many of which happen without anyone being aware. Even GPS, CCTV, and access-control systems can be subjected to hacking. Furthermore, regardless of whether the intention is to defraud, steal valuable information, or even take control of the vessel, the criminals don’t have much at present to stop them, and they’re becoming increasingly sophisticated.
After an eye-opening meeting with Bond at the Monaco Yacht Show, Megayacht News invited Bond to explain just how vulnerable most yachts are:
When it comes to cyber security, most people assume it’s all about staying up to date with antivirus and other security software. While this helps, by no means does it provide the levels of protection assumed. With more than 250 million new security threats emerging in 2010, there are a whole host of cyber threats today, and the number keeps on growing.
If someone wants to compromise the vessel electronically, they have many external entry points at which to do so. It only takes one of these to be breached to open up the whole network to the criminal hacker. These weaknesses are known to technical experts, but the consequences are often misunderstood, even by the most seasoned navigator. For example, a GPS device might indicate the wrong location based on counterfeit signals—intentionally fooling the navigation system into accepting the signals as authentic ones, which means the actual position of the vessel is elsewhere. Sailing into unknown waters without realizing can place those onboard at risk of kidnapping or assassination. While this might sound like an extract from a James Bond movie, make no mistake: Spoofing is not difficult, and the incentives for doing so are getting greater.
Gaining entry into the vessel’s communications system could also compromise internal and external voice systems, which would give a criminal hacker access to the content of conversations or onboard computer systems. Often these systems are likely to contain private, personal, and sensitive business information, which is then sold to criminal networks to exploit further. Husbandry control systems, which are all networked into the communications system, can also be compromised. Not even the entertainment system is safe from attack. Satellite TV, games consoles, and all elements of entertainment systems are at risk of infiltration.
All too aware of these vulnerabilities, the Yacht Technologies business of SELEX Elsag officially unveiled its Cyber Security Operations Centre (SOC) for superyacht customers at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show. The Cyber SOC is operated by SELEX Elsag and is part of Yacht Technologies’ HorizonX offering, allowing yacht owners, yards, and designers to integrate the latest technology into their projects.
Located in Pescara, Italy, the Cyber SOC has provided remote cyber security management and monitoring services to public and private sector customers for more than a decade. Currently serving more than 5,000 customers, it provides round-the-clock services to ensure that customers’ networks and systems are protected to the greatest extent possible from cyber attacks, fraud, and insider threats. Furthermore, Finmeccanica Group, which operates the Cyber SOC and to which SELEX Elsag belongs, is responsible for 70 percent of all UK military and intelligence voice and data encryption.
The Cyber SOC enables owners to benefit from a fully integrated and end-to-end security service from a single partner. A function of the security offering is to install an interface on the superyacht. This interface has capabilities known only to the staff at the SOC, but its function enables cyber security to be offered at the highest level, akin to government or military standards being produced at SELEX Elsag. This provides a range of benefits for superyacht owners and operators. This includes a 24-hour global remote-monitoring service to defend against cyber security threats and proactively address security issues before they become damaging. For example, the Cyber SOC will be able to detect if a vessel is going off course as a result of GPS spoofing by monitoring the strength of the satellite signal. If the signal is too strong, the captain is alerted, as there’s a good chance the vessel has been compromised.
Network traffic and system and user behaviors are continuously analyzed to ensure that anomalies arising from implanted threats or inappropriate behaviour are detected, assessed, and responded to in a timely, appropriate manner.
For owners, the message is clear: It’s not just physical security measures that should be an integral part of a yacht’s infrastructure. As they say, failure to plan is a plan to fail.
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