Deep Dive – Securing AIS

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Securing AIS

AIS (Advanced Identification System) is an incredibly important tool in maritime navigation, allowing ships to transmit their location and data to other vessels and satellites, preventing collisions and aiding in rescue efforts. It’s a vital technology for navigating the vast, unpredictable seas—but it’s also vulnerable to exploitation.

Not only can AIS be used by pirates to track and target high-value ships, it can also be manipulated – whilst in reality your ship is safely docked, hackers can make it seem like it’s illegally entering hostile waters somewhere else entirely.

This technique is known as spoofing, which doesn’t just potentially mess with the reliability of a ship’s own navigation systems, it can also create false reports on the position of a ship to military or civilian observers. In both scenarios, the consequences can be severe, especially in situations with (military) tension.

If you’re on the verge of a war with another country and it suddenly appears like your warships are in their harbors, tensions are going to rise.

In this Deep Dive, join host Lieuwe Jan Koning and guests Rob Maas and Jeroen Scheerder as they unravel the scope of what is possible when it comes to hacking AIS, and look at the steps needed to secure AIS, making it a more reliable tool for the future.

 

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Your cybersecurity experts

Lieuwe Jan Koning, Co-Founder and CTO, ON2IT

Lieuwe Jan Koning

Co-Founder and CTO, ON2IT Group

Luca Cipriano, Threat Intel Specialst, ON2IT

Luca Cipriano

Threat Intel Specialist, ON2IT

Jeroen Scheerder, ON2IT

Jeroen Scheerder

Security Architect, ON2IT

Episode details

Though a crucial tool in maritime navigation, situational awareness and search and rescue operations, AIS or Advanced Identification System is a vulnerable system that is prevalent in the maritime industry.

With a lack of authentication and signals that are not only unencrypted, but also easy to either spoof or jam, there are numerous vulnerabilities that can be exploited. And they have been – pirates use the AIS system to track high-value targets, where other bad actors will use the AIS system to either impersonate another ship, or simply make their own ship disappear to avoid getting caught sailing into illegal waters.

How do we make this important yet vulnerable system more reliable and secure?
Find out in this Deep Dive on Securing AIS!

 

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