The U.S. Department of Homeland Security considers the Maritime Transportation System (MTS) to be among the 16 most critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S. whose assets, systems, and networks if disrupted or rendered incapacitated would have crippling effects on the nation's economy and the safety and security of its citizens. Over the past five years, an increasing number of reported maritime cybersecurity incidents have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the MTS to cyber threats, including vessel navigation, cargo scanning and port facility operations. The evolving complexity of these occurrences, together with the many components that comprise the maritime environment require that maritime professionals must be well prepared in the emerging science and technologies needed to inform, support, and implement maritime and critical infrastructure security policies and directives. To effectively enhance the security of our nation's maritime borders, ports and inland waterways, maritime professionals must possess the skills needed to address cyber threats, must be well adept at developing and evaluating new methods and tools for efficient and effective response and system resilience, and must be able to define new strategies for mitigating cyber threats.
In order to address this challenge, Stevens---together with its collaborators from Rutgers University and Texas Southern University (one of Historically Black Colleges and Universities)---will develop two interdisciplinary programs in Maritime Cybersecurity in order to bridge the current knowledge gap between the two disciplines Maritime Systems and Cybersecurity. As such, this project will build a common basis for Maritime Systems and Cybersecurity professionals to work together effectively in addressing the unique cybersecurity challenges of the MTS. Through workshops, the newly developed materials will be disseminated to other academic institutions and the community at large. Dedicated seminars, student internships, and maritime cybersecurity-focused research projects will serve as additional mechanisms to enhance cyber awareness across the maritime enterprise as part of this project.
