Friday, April 14, 2017

Your ship has probably been cyber attacked


From eMaritimeGroup by George Ward

You have either been hacked... or just didn’t know you have been hacked.

I predict that the first catastrophic maritime cyber incident will not be the result of a direct attack on a safety critical specific piece of equipment.
It will be the result of an infection on a random PC, perhaps an unassuming email to a crew member, whose PC is either connected to the vessels internal super highway or he transmits the infection internally whilst it lies dormant.
Crypto locker, or Ransomware software (used by thousands of hackers), are easily available to download on the dark web, neither of which may necessarily attack the equipment they infect; they can lie dormant and infect connected equipment when nobody expects.
You have been warned.

 With the increasing use of systems with embedded software on ships and mobile offshore platforms, cyber security is becoming critical not only for data protection, but also for reliable operations.
Information security agencies are reporting that up to 97% of the attacks are actually consisting of tricking users via social engineering techniques.
To address this awareness risk, DNV GL’s Maritime Academy developed an e-learning course for your crews and shore staff to raise awareness concerning cyber security, about threats and countermeasures, addressing your cyber security management system by encouraging the crew’s good cyber hygiene.
You will learn to understand the importance of your Cyber Security role as a user of IT & OT (Operational Technology) systems and how to protect yourself and your organisation against cyber security threats.

Cyber-attack is the current buzzword, known by some as an industry killer and even as the potential cause of the next world war, but thought by others to be a myth.
So where does the maritime industry stand in all of this?

In the main, but certainly not universally, the maritime industry has a dismal record in its slow and painful transition from paper and analogue methods of shipping to new innovative technologies when compared to industry rivals like aviation.
But why is this, and how could it affect cyber security in the maritime arena?
Or have some seafarers not even evolved enough to be talking about it yet, let alone implementing new cyber procedures on board ship.
We have all met “that Captain” who is nervous about the machines on his ship.

While the maritime industry doesn’t seem to have been strategically targeted in terms of the vessels themselves, there is now plenty of talk of accidental or naive seafarers accepting a generic phishing email that goes on to attack their computers.

Major corporations like Google and Yahoo have release statements stating they were deliberately hacked.
The question is what will be first for the maritime industry, the deliberate or strategic hacking of an individual ship, or the shipping corporation as a whole.
There has been a call for cyber specialists to come and give answers to the potentially very real dangers facing the industry that could not only damage reputations, but cause disruption to trade worth billions of pounds to the industry.
Not all is lost though, as long as we can move the industry forward to cope with the digital world we live in today.

Cyber security was a hot topic in 2016 – however now we are in 2017, and the seafaring community are becoming more aware of what can potentially happen.
There is a real threat for cyber activists to start gaining and changing sensitive shipping data from our onboard equipment.
Such as changing the vessels route to cause a grounding, gaining access to digitally controlled engine rooms and causing alarm mute whilst an engine fails or even catches fire due to a manual overload by the hacker.

With more and more companies looking for insight into how to stop attacks from occurring, the main area of concern is the lack of security awareness by both companies and employees as they have been taken aback by the swift rise in the industry’s threat level from cyber security; almost nonexistent just a few years ago to today’s high alert.
It is expected that shipping companies and independent vessels could be next on the list for major cybercrime activity as it is as yet mainly unexplored territory for hackers who are only now starting to realize its huge potential as a target.
Attacks now have the capability to obtain sensitive ECDIS, AIS and GPS data, to name but a few, so it is vital that the correct procedures and processes are in place to stop the worst from happening.


see a live attack on standard maritime equipment

The scary part; 51 percent of U.S. adults suffered some kind of data security incident between December 2015 and December 2016.
In 2015 there were 781 reported major company data breaches in the U.S. alone due to cyber-attacks which combined cost companies $400 billion.
These are only the reported data breaches. Sadly there is often an element of sweeping under the carpet in all industries.
This total will continue to rise if the maritime industry, where the proportion of those of digital native age is far lower, do not adapt to ever changing technology and the major security threats it brings with it.
Overall, the predicted cost of cyber-attacks in 2019 is estimated at a colossal $2.1 trillion.

The issue, alongside a lack of awareness by employees and users of operating systems, is the development speed of technology.
This digital age of super computers, 4D printing and nano technology is like no other and is proving to be self-accelerating, i.e. one technology is put into operation while the next generation, more powerful and innovative, is being produced, thereby creating an always expanding, developing and aggressive cycle.
But, due to the speed of production, this process can lead to an unstable, unsecure and untrusted platform, as it is not able to keep up with ever changing threats.
After years of this development, technology companies are starting to adapt to the issue by developing and applying software updates weekly which try to manage security flaws within the software, while changes to future developments can help manage the constantly increasing cyber-crime threat; until the next global threat takes place or takes over.

Some maritime software manufacturers have used a physical security method of locking out their systems in order to intercept physical security threats altogether, however this ironically increasing the complication of applying security software updates.
This restriction can complicate a shipping company’s decision to have an integrated bridge system due to issues with syncing and communication between different software manufacturers, also meaning only specialized engineers and trained software technicians are allowed to apply updates, causing additional issues.
Restrictions like these could mean that your system is 80 percent more susceptible to cyber threats.

First off, the solution is simple; but it will cost you, which no one likes to do unless it’s necessary. Only some companies feel that cyber security is important enough to invest into it.
Nevertheless you will watch multiple companies become complacent and unconcerned about the real threat in the water, until it becomes a reality, and the organization comes grinding to a halt.
In reality, if you spend as much on coffee as you do on cyber security measures, you will be hacked.
It is alleged that almost every company in the World has already been hacked, or if not, will be soon.
FBI director James Comey had the following to say on Chinese hackers: “There are two kinds of big companies in the United States. There are those who've been hacked by the Chinese and those who don't know they've been hacked by the Chinese.”

This is the world as it is and therefore we need to change with it, not be 10 steps behind.
First, we know the industry is struggling from sector to sector, but cyber attacks will only make it worse, so the first move is ensuring everybody is educated in cyber security awareness.
Preferably starting from the top and working down so the entire seafaring community can spot a cyber-attack and know what action to take in response.
Experienced educational companies (such as ECDIS Ltd, DNV GL, Maritime Training, NCC Group, JWC Int.) exist that offer in-depth, classroom based courses in the subject of cyber security.

Crewless ships might be the target of cyberattacks
Platform supply vessels – Autonomy means more potential routes for infection
(Courtesy of Rolls-Royce)

Countless companies are missing the correct procedures when it comes to security.
A robust IT security policy is highly recommended, as this allows employees and users of all IT equipment to be clear as to how company data and information should be used on IT equipment.
It’s not just small companies either that struggle in this war against cyber activists.
Large corporations are also at major exposure risk, primarily due to not having a dedicated IT and security team.
It is recommended that a company appoints a cyber security chief to implement and respond to all cyber security related issues or system flaws that may be found.
This is so one person has ultimate responsibility for implementing and maintaining all cyber security measures within the company thus ensuring consistency of approach.

Cyber security attacks are incorrectly thought of as attacks that occur just over the internet due to the wrong security measures being taken; however lack of physical security can also be a major factor in the cause of industry changing attacks.
During the twentieth century a majority of attacks occur due to people not taking the correct measures to keep our IT equipment safe, another reason why we need everyone to be aware of what’s coming.
It really is as easy as someone to come into your reception and ask you to print off a copy of their CV from a USB stick, which is actually infected with multiple viruses, this could ultimately allow someone else complete control of your businesses entire network and therefore most likely, thereby destroying it.

In summary, cyber security isn’t an issue we can ignore, it may not be heard of yet as giving direct threats towards our vessels but this will come in time when noticed by any cybercrime activists who either want to damage the industry or cause major damage to infrastructure or even human life.
It can be averted.
Many, if not all, shipping companies have some form of internal networked server that allows for all of their computers to communicate and send and save files between them, and therefore also connect to the internet, so with the improper procedures in place it could be easy for anyone keen to infect an auxiliary piece of equipment that connects to the primary.
Think of the random software updates that happen every day, for example to an engine room sensor test, or to the bridges digital anemometer that may appear non safety critical, but they are connected to safety critical systems.
We often concentrate and develop robust procedures purely for the few safety critical pieces of equipment, but the attack will take place on a tertiary system that is connected to it.

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Thursday, April 13, 2017

New Zealand Linz update in the GeoGarage platform

10 nautical raster charts updates


Adam Greenland, National Hydrographer, talks about the work
LINZ does to produce navigation information for staying safe at sea.
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Renewables' deep-sea mining conundrum

In 1989 German ocean researchers started a unique long-term experiment off the coast of Peru.
To explore the effects of potential deep sea mining on the seabed, they plowed in about eleven square kilometer area around the seabed.

From BBC by David Shukman

British scientists exploring an underwater mountain in the Atlantic Ocean have discovered a treasure trove of rare minerals.
Their investigation of a seamount more than 500km (300 miles) from the Canary Islands has revealed a crust of "astonishingly rich" rock.
Samples brought back to the surface contain the scarce substance tellurium in concentrations 50,000 times higher than in deposits on land.
Tellurium is used in a type of advanced solar panel, so the discovery raises a difficult question about whether the push for renewable energy may encourage mining of the seabed.
The rocks also contain what are called rare earth elements that are used in wind turbines and electronics.

Energy implications

Known as Tropic Seamount, the mountain stands about 3,000m tall – about the size of one of the middle-ranging Alpine summits – with a large plateau at its top, lying about 1,000m below the ocean surface.
Using robotic submarines, researchers from the UK's National Oceanography Centre found that the crust is dark and fine-grained and stretches in a layer roughly 4cm thick over the entire surface of the mountain.
Dr Bram Murton, the leader of the expedition, told the BBC that he had been expecting to find abundant minerals on the seamount but not in such concentrations.
"These crusts are astonishingly rich and that's what makes these rocks so incredibly special and valuable from a resource perspective."
He has calculated that the 2,670 tonnes of tellurium on this single seamount represents one-twelfth of the world's total supply.
And Dr Murton has come up with a hypothetical estimate that if the entire deposit could be extracted and used to make solar panels, it could meet 65% of the UK's electricity demand.

 Tropic Seamount: The mountain stands about 3,000m tall 
source : NOC / NERC

He says he is not advocating deep-sea mining, which has yet to start anywhere in the world and is likely to be highly controversial because of the damage it could cause to the marine environment.
But Dr Murton does want his team's discovery, part of a major research project called MarineE-Tech, to trigger a debate about where vital resources should come from.
"If we need green energy supplies, then we need the raw materials to make the devices that produce the energy so, yes, the raw materials have to come from somewhere.
"We either dig them up from the ground and make a very large hole or dig them from the seabed and make a comparatively smaller hole.
"It's a dilemma for society - nothing we do comes without a cost."
Scientists are now weighing up the relative risks and merits of mining on land as opposed to on the seabed.

Scientists fear that even before one of the last frontiers of exploration, the ocean deep, has been properly studied it will already have been exploited by commercial deep-sea mining looking for rare

Mines on land often require forests and villages to be cleared, overlying rocks to be removed and roads or railways to be built in order to extract ores with relatively weak concentrations of minerals.
By contrast, mines on the seabed would extract far richer ores, covering a smaller area and with no immediate impact on people - but instead killing marine life wherever digging machines are deployed and potentially devastating a far wider area.
One major concern is the effect of plumes of dust, stirred up by excavation of the ocean floor, spreading for long distances and smothering all life wherever it settles.
To understand the implications, the expedition to Tropic Seamount conducted an experiment, the first of its kind, to mimic the effects of mining and to measure the resulting plume.
Deploying from the UK research ship James Cook, a remotely operated vehicle deliberately pumped out hundreds of litres of sediment-filled water every minute while other robotic sensors were positioned downstream in the ocean current.
According to Dr Murton, early results indicate that dust was hard to detect 1km away from the source of the plume, suggesting that the impact of mining could be more localised than many fear.
But this comes as different disciplines within marine science are coming up with a range of perspectives on this emerging development.

The ocean has a wealth of resources.
From food, to travel, to pharmaceutical needs, and to energy, the ocean has always provided for mankind.
And now, mankind is turning to the ocean for minerals and metals needed for the technology we use in our everyday lives.
An exploration into the emerging industry of deep sea mining leads to more questions than answers.

Lucrative nodules

A study led by Dr Daniel Jones, also at the NOC, reviewed evidence of seabed exploration and found that in the wake of mining many marine creatures would be likely to recover within a year but that few would return to their previous levels even after two decades.
Another study focused on tiny organisms on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in a region known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which stretches in a belt south of Hawaii.
Much of this zone has been licensed by the UN's International Seabed Authority to companies from more than a dozen countries to search for minerals in the potato-sized rocks or "nodules" lying on the seabed.
Prof Andy Gooday, also of the NOC, and colleagues found that among the metals-rich nodules, there is a far greater diversity of single-celled organisms called xenophyophores than previously thought.
Their research identified as many as 34 species of these lifeforms that are new to science.

 The concern would be for the ecosystems that are built around any mined seamount

These organisms occupy one of the lower rungs in the food chain and also play an important role by forming hard shell-like structures, like miniature coral reefs, that provide habitats for other creatures.
Prof Gooday says that the range of life in the sediments of the deep ocean can be compared with that of a tropical rainforest and that "life on the ocean floor is more dynamic" than anyone expected.
He believes it is unlikely that seabed mining would cause species to go extinct but that the impact locally would be severe.
"If you eliminate these xenophyphores, which are very fragile and would certainly be destroyed by mining, it would destroy habitat structure for other organisms.
"It's difficult to predict and, like everything in the deep sea connected with the effects of mining, we need to learn more – we still know so little about what's going on down there."

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Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Ocean tech: Robot sea snakes and shoal-swimming subs

The self-propelling Eelume robot moves like a snake through the water
source : Kongsberg

From BBC by Zoe Kleinman

In the near future, ocean search-and-repair specialists won't need arms or legs, according to one vision.

In fact, they are destined to be much more slithery.
"We try to get people to move away from the word snake because it's seen as kind of scary but even I find myself all the time calling it a snake," says Richard Mills from marine tech firm Kongsberg.
If the idea of a swimming robot snake doesn't appeal, you might want to skip the next few paragraphs.
I first mentioned Eelume to a friend who asked me whether I would be allowed to have a swim with it.
I was secretly relieved that the answer was no.
What started as a university robotics research project in Norway 10 years ago, has become a commercial prototype - and it is unavoidably snake-like.
It's designed to inspect structures on the sea bed and carry out repairs, and is currently being tested on oil rigs.
The flexible, self-propelling, tubular device has a camera at each end and is kitted out with sensors.
Because it has a modular design, its parts can be switched to suit different tasks, with swappable tools including a grabber and cleaning brush.

The Eelume robot sea snake that could one day explore the Titanic

The design allows the robot to work in confined spaces that might be inaccessible to other vehicles, as well as to wriggle its body to stay in place in strong currents.
And because it is designed to connect itself to a seabed dock when not in use, it can be deployed at any time whatever the surface conditions.

It isn't yet on the market, but was recently on show at the Southampton's Ocean Business trade fair.
Future plans already include a cheap 3D-printed model and another which can operate in very deep water.
"Something like going inside the Titanic, where divers can't, is a great opportunity that we could look at in the future," said Mr Mills.
"We are only limited by imagination in where we can take this vehicle."

ASV Global is leading the development and deployment of autonomous boats in both military and commercial applications across the globe.

Self-driving boats

Just as driverless cars are causing excitement on land, autonomous boats are also making a splash.
"Unmanned systems allow you to focus on the data," said Dan Hook from UK firm ASV Global, which was also at the Southampton expo.
"You stay on board your ship in a warm, dry location, you can focus on the data and where to send the unmanned system next."
The firm's two autonomous vessels - which can also be operated via remote control - currently run on diesel generators rather than battery power.
"We're seeing increasing regulation on the types of engines we can use - it's a good thing to force you into the cleaner engines," he said.
"They are quieter and more efficient... but the future is electric, we're seeing it in cars, it's happening in our industry as well."

 Project to create pressure tolerant battery pack for Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS).
Consortium headed by Steatite.

Sea batteries

Batteries from the specialist battery-maker Steatite's have to function at low temperatures and high pressure, and power deep-sea devices for days at a time.
Lithium-sulfur battery tech, already in the sights of electric car makers, is set to be trialled on board the famous autosub trio collectively known as Boaty McBoatface later this year - and it will be a Steatite creation.
"Lithium-sulfur is the next generation from lithium-ion," said the firm's Paul Edwards.
"It's got a better energy density, so you get more energy for the amount of weight you are carrying."
But if you think that it is battery life that holds marine tech back, then think again.

Deep Trekker builds portable and easy to use submersible robots.

It is more likely to be your concentration span, said Sam McDonald, president of a Canadian firm called Deep Trekker.
The firm was demonstrating two remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) - the larger of which was about the size of a small child.
Ms McDonald said that the operator would become tired before the ROV did.
"I need to take a break after three or four hours of running it," she said.
"You're looking at a screen the whole time, it takes a great deal of concentration.
"You're trying to hold position under the water, looking at infrastructure or watching tools or divers work, you're constantly moving your hands and eyes," she explained.
If that sounds exhausting imagine being in charge of a whole load of them at once.


Return to sender... rewards will be offered for washed-up ecosubs

Micro-submarines

Planet Ocean was showing off the ecosub - a small, thigh-sized device that looks a bit like an old shell casing and is designed to "swim" in shoals, with each individual sub packed with different sensors to build up collectively a strong picture of the group's watery environment.
One "pilot" can oversee many simultaneously, and they are so small that each individual sub can only carry four or five sensors, said managing director Terry Sloane.
"If they bump into each other it's not a big disaster," he said.
"They only weigh 5kg [11lb] on land".
Keen to encourage recycling, Mr Sloane is prepared to offer a bounty for washed-up ecosubs that find their way to the beach - there's a hotline number on the casing for eagle-eyed beachcombers to call.
"We don't want to leave things floating around in the ocean, but it doesn't take many hours of searching for one to make it uneconomical to recover," he said.
"We expect people to recover them and claim a reward."

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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Great Barrier Reef at 'terminal stage': scientists despair at latest coral bleaching data

Aerial view of parts of the Great Barrier Reef that has experienced coral bleaching, March 2017.
Video courtesy ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

From The Guardian by and

‘Last year was bad enough, this is a disaster,’ says one expert as Australia Research Council finds fresh damage across 8,000km 

Back-to-back severe bleaching events have affected two-thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, new aerial surveys have found.
The findings have caused alarm among scientists, who say the proximity of the 2016 and 2017 bleaching events is unprecedented for the reef, and will give damaged coral little chance to recover.

Scientists with the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies last week completed aerial surveys of the world’s largest living structure, scoring bleaching at 800 individual coral reefs across 8,000km.
The results show the two consecutive mass bleaching events have affected a 1,500km stretch, leaving only the reef’s southern third unscathed.
Where last year’s bleaching was concentrated in the reef’s northern third, the 2017 event spread further south, and was most intense in the middle section of the Great Barrier Reef.
This year’s mass bleaching, second in severity only to 2016, has occurred even in the absence of an El Niño event.


Mass bleaching – a phenomenon caused by global warming-induced rises to sea surface temperatures – has occurred on the reef four times in recorded history.
Prof Terry Hughes, who led the surveys, said the length of time coral needed to recover – about 10 years for fast-growing types – raised serious concerns about the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events.
“The significance of bleaching this year is that it’s back to back, so there’s been zero time for recovery,” Hughes told the Guardian.
“It’s too early yet to tell what the full death toll will be from this year’s bleaching, but clearly it will extend 500km south of last year’s bleaching.”

 Aerial surveys of the world’s largest living structure, scoring bleaching at 800 individual coral reefs across 8,000km.
Photograph: Ed Roberts/ARC 

Last year, in the worst-affected areas to the reef’s north, roughly two-thirds of shallow-water corals were lost.
Hughes has warned Australia now faces a closing window to save the reef by taking decisive action on climate change.
The 2017 bleaching is likely to be compounded by other stresses on the reef, including the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish and poor water quality.
The category-four tropical cyclone Debbie came too late and too far south for its cooling effect to alleviate bleaching.



But Hughes said its slow movement across the reef was likely to have caused destruction to coral along a path up to 100km wide.
“It added to the woes of the bleaching. It came too late to stop the bleaching, and it came to the wrong place,” he said.
The University of Technology Sydney’s lead reef researcher, marine biologist David Suggett, said that to properly recover, affected reefs needed to be connected to those left untouched by bleaching.
He said Hughes’ survey results showed such connectivity was in jeopardy.
“It’s that connection ultimately that will drive the rate and extent of recovery,” Suggett said. “So if bleaching events are moving around the [Great Barrier Reef] system on an annual basis, it does really undermine any potential resilience through connectivity between neighbouring reefs.”
Some reef scientists are now becoming despondent.
Water quality expert, Jon Brodie, told the Guardian the reef was now in a “terminal stage”.
Brodie has devoted much of his life to improving water quality on the reef, one of a suite of measures used to stop bleaching.

 ARC conducted an aerial and underwater survey of the reef which concluded that two-thirds of it has been hit by mass coral bleaching for second time in 12 months.
Photograph: Ed Roberts/ARC

He said measures to improve water quality, which were a central tenet of the Australian government’s rescue effort, were failing.
“We’ve given up. It’s been my life managing water quality, we’ve failed,” Brodie said.
“Even though we’ve spent a lot of money, we’ve had no success.”
Brodie used strong language to describe the threats to the reef in 2017.
He said the compounding effect of back-to-back bleaching, Cyclone Debbie, and run-off from nearby catchments should not be understated.
“Last year was bad enough, this year is a disaster year,” Brodie said.
“The federal government is doing nothing really, and the current programs, the water quality management is having very limited success. It’s unsuccessful.”

 Bleached coral at Mission Beach Reefs.
Photograph: Bette Willis/ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Others remain optimistic, out of necessity.
Jon Day was a director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for 16 years until retiring in 2014.
Day, whose expertise lies in protected area planning and management, said the federal government’s approach to protecting the reef was sorely lacking.
He said it was taking too relaxed an approach to fishing, run-off and pollution from farming, and the dumping of maintenance dredge spoil.
The government was far short of the $8.2bn investment needed to meet water quality targets, he said, and Australia was on track to fail its short-term 2018 water quality targets, let alone achieve more ambitious long-term goals.
“You’ve got to be optimistic, I think we have to be,” Day said.
“But every moment we waste, and every dollar we waste, isn’t helping the issue. We’ve been denying it for so long, and now we’re starting to accept it. But we’re spending insufficient amounts addressing the problem.”

The latest surveys spell more bad news for the Great Barrier Reef. Following a record high water surface temperature and mass bleaching event in 2016, the Australian icon may be on track for a similar event this year.
Aerial and underwater footage from 2016 and 2017, shown in this video, shows the extent of the bleaching and die-off, which has already impacted large portions of the reef.

The Queensland tourism industry raised questions about the reliability of the survey, saying scientists had previously made exaggerated claims about mortality rates and bleaching.


“There is no doubt that we have had a significant bleaching event off Cairns this time around,” said Col McKenzie, of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators.
“The far north probably did a little bit better, Port Douglas to Townsille has seen some significant bleaching,” he said.
“Fortunately we haven’t seen much mortality at this time, and fortunately the temperatures have fallen.”
McKenzie said more money needed to be invested in water quality measures, and criticised what he saw as a piecemeal and uncoordinated approach to water quality projects up and down the coast.


Underwater video shows where bleaching has damaged the Great Barrier Reef

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