2024 CyberBoat Challenge

The 2024 CyberBoat Challenge was brought to you in part by the Maritime Cybersecurity Institute and the University of South Carolina Beaufort

Students and mentors testing their understanding of maritime systems during the assessment phase of the event. Thank you to Butler Marine for providing the boats.

Overview

During 17-19 December 2024, thirty (30) students from 14 different universities joined industry professionals and instructors in the City of Beaufort, South Carolina to learn about product cybersecurity for recreational marine systems. The event featured hands-on classes to familiarize students with marine electronic systems followed by a small group assessment period where students worked with mentors to assess the cybersecurity posture of systems available at the venue. At the end of the event, student groups presented their work and industry participants gathered their findings. Attendees spent long days working on the projects, but the energy and excitement from the event was palpable. Overall the event was wildly successful in that students were inspired to explore opportunities in cybersecurity for marine systems and industry was able to learn more about their systems and how to improve them. Organizers are already planning for the next CyberBoat Challenge.

Thank you to the 2024 Sponsors and Contributors

The 2024 CyberBoat Challenge is sponsored in part by MCSI , which is supported by the NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing Cybersecurity Technologies for the Maritime Transportation System (SC) and funded by the National Science Foundation – Award Number 2305684. Without the support of MCSI the 2024 event would not have been possible. .

2024 Schedule

The following image is linked to the PDF of the schedule with the list of sponsors.

Presentations and Hands-On Activities

Introduction to CAN, J1939 and NMEA 2000

Jeremy Daily, Associate Professor of Systems Engineering at Colorado State University

Firmware Analysis - 1

Jake Jepson, Security Researcher at Red Balloon Security

Applied Crypto

Mert Pesé, Assistant Professor at Clemson University

Automatic Identification System (AIS)

Gary Kessler, Fathom5

Experts from industry, government, and academia gave presentations and workshops at the beginning of the event. The collective insights and wisdom from the presenters helped set the students up for success when performing assessments. The focus was on activities and lessons that were unique to the CyberBoat Challenge, which emphasized hands-on activity. Publicly available presentations are available as links for their titles.

Assessment Teams

During the last half of the event, the students were paired with mentors to work on a cybersecurity assessment of interest. Each team comprised students, mentors and professionals. Some professionals worked in private industry and others worked for the government. The teams quickly formed an identity and started working towards their objectives. The structure rows of tables in the room were quickly rearranged into group work areas. Some groups commandeered the presentation TVs and everyone got to work. At the end of the event, each group prepared a presentation and gave their findings to the room. Due to the sensitivity of such results, the findings were only retained by the industry professional responsible for the affected systems. Otherwise, these presentations were deleted.

Photographs from the CyberBoat Challenge

The photos below show the different activities from the lessons being taught, the group work, and the boat ride. A highlight of the week for participants was to join the Beaufort Water Search and Rescue or the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for a boat ride off the Beaufort City Docks. This unique experience helps drive home the importance of cybersecurity in the maritime environment.