Abstract:

Cybersecurity threats are becoming more sophisticated and complicated, challenging defenders’ tasks for timely detection and response. National critical infrastructures are often a target, and if compromised, they can disrupt national security and supply chains, paralyzing many aspects of society. The Maritime domain is a lucrative environment to target as the impact can greatly affect the shipping industry, ports, and other critical infrastructures in the Maritime domain. Existing studies have identified several Maritime-related cybersecurity risks that need to be taken into consideration to compose the Maritime Cyber Situational Awareness (MCSA) and address them effectively at a strategic, operational, and technical level. Effective cybersecurity governance is considered a critical aspect for the protection of critical infrastructures and timely detection of cyber threats. Governance provides a strategic view of how an organization controls its security and aligns it with the organization’s objectives. This work is concerned with the strategic level, specifically investigating how to enhance MCSA of higher hierarchy people, including executives, managers, and decision makers in the Maritime domain. The aim of this work is to aid the understanding of the factors that can contribute to the effective development of MCSA competencies and to provide appropriate guidelines to stakeholders, such as policy makers and trainers. Potential areas that will be investigated include, among others, learning methods for strategic level roles, specific cybersecurity related competencies, training topics, communication aspects.

Keywords:

Maritime Cybersecurity training, Cybersecurity Education, Maritime Cyber Situational Awareness.