DS Lab Company (CEO: Yonghyun Cho) announced that it held a security workshop in September at the Take Hotel in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, aimed at strengthening cyber resilience for smart ships. The event was conducted as part of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA)’s ‘New Technology Application Convergence Service Security Enhancement Pilot Project,’ with approximately 50 attendees from the shipbuilding, maritime, and information security industries.
The workshop was organized to discuss response measures as the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) cybersecurity regulations (E26, E27) become mandatory for vessels contracted from January 2024 onward. Ship cyber resilience refers to the ability to respond to cyber threats and rapidly recover in the event of damage, and has emerged as a critically important security element as digitalization of the maritime industry accelerates. With recent advances in autonomous navigation and smart ship technologies, the shipbuilding and maritime industry faces security threats fundamentally different from conventional IT security frameworks. Vessels operate in isolated environments while being interconnected with various maritime ICT systems, making them vulnerable to hacking. In particular, if ship management software and navigation systems are compromised, the impact on vessel operations can be catastrophic.
During the workshop, participants analyzed the cybersecurity threats facing the domestic and international shipbuilding and maritime industries and explored directions for advancing ship cybersecurity technology. Progress on demonstration projects and the latest security technologies were also shared, while major security companies and research institutions discussed strategies for leading global ship security trends. Participating companies included information security firms NSHC, NAONWORKS, and AI-SPERA, with professionals from the shipbuilding, maritime, and information security sectors serving on an expert committee in an industry-academia-research collaboration.
DS Lab Company is developing vessel-specialized security technologies under its proprietary ship cybersecurity brand ‘CYTUR (an acronym for Cyber Turtle Ship).’ To date, the company has registered and filed 15 related patents domestically and internationally, and has published over 20 research papers in international academic journals (SCIE) and domestic conferences, actively pursuing technology commercialization. The company is also emphasizing the importance of ship cybersecurity through security technology development and demonstration projects that consider the entire ship lifecycle.
According to DS Lab Company, an analysis of 64 ship-related cyberattack cases conducted through its maritime cyber threat intelligence platform (CYTUR-TI™) from January to May 2023 revealed that maritime supply chains accounted for 38.8% of all attacks. In particular, databases of vessel operation and control systems have become primary attack targets, and cases of malware distribution disguised as ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) training executables were also discovered. Furthermore, as ship digitalization progresses and remote access systems expand, some legacy versions contain vulnerabilities for unauthorized remote access and remote code execution, widening the attack surface. Consequently, the security industry views the development of security technologies optimized for the shipboard environment and the strengthening of security regulations as essential priorities.
DS Lab Company CEO Yonghyun Cho stated, “The shipbuilding and maritime industry has reached a point where cybersecurity must be considered an essential element,” and projected that “with IACS cybersecurity regulations becoming mandatory next year, related technology development and security solution adoption will accelerate significantly.” He added, “DS Lab Company has continuously researched and developed cybersecurity technologies specialized for the shipboard environment, and we will work to ensure that Korea secures a global technological edge in the ship cybersecurity market through collaboration with domestic and international shipbuilding, maritime, and academic communities.”
This workshop once again underscored the need for strengthened cybersecurity in the shipbuilding and maritime industry, and cooperation among domestic and international security companies and research institutions to address these challenges is expected to be further reinforced.
Source: Security News (https://www.boannews.com/)