Cybersecurity Attacks and Defences for Unmanned Smart Ships

By 2020, unmanned ships such as remotely controlled boats and autonomous vessels would become operational, marking a technological revolution for the maritime industry. Such ships are expected to serve needs ranging from coastal ferries to open sea cargo handling. In this paper we detail the security vulnerabilities of such unmanned ships. The attack surface as well as motivations for attack attempts also are discussed to provide a perspective of how and why attacks are undertaken. Finally defence strategies are proposed as countermeasures.