ERA Chair in Maritime Cyber Security at Tallinn University of Technology

Project Information

MariCybERA

Grant agreement ID: 952360

DOI

10.3030/952360

Project closed

EC signature date 10 June 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• Establishing ‚ERA Chairs’

Total cost

€ 2 497 500,00

EU contribution

€ 2 497 500,00

Coordinated by

TALLINNA TEHNIKAÜLIKOOL
Estonia

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - MariCybERA (ERA Chair in Maritime Cyber Security at Tallinn University of Technology)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The European and international maritime industries face serious threats from cybercriminals. Shipping companies and ports have begun falling prey to computer viruses (AP Moller-Maersk in 2017, COSCO Shipping Lines in 2018, the ports of Barcelona and San Diego in 2018, etc.) IT hackers are colluding with drug traffickers to import illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin (Port of Amsterdam, 2011-2013), and shipping vessels have become vulnerable to GPS jamming and spoofing attacks (Black Sea in 2017, Mediterranean Sea in 2019). And these cyber security related incidents are just the tip of the iceberg as the majority go unreported in the maritime sector. A cyber-attack on cross-border critical infrastructures - such as ports, maritime authorities and maritime logistics, etc. –would have a crippling economic impact on maritime logistics and supply chains.
Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) is part of an Estonian ecosystem of cybersecurity and maritime actors –NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, several Estonian maritime associations, research institutes and private companies –with the collective know-how to tackle maritime cyber security threats. Estonia has first-hand experience of state-sponsored cyberwarfare (2007) and is renowned for its IT innovation (Skype), e-governance (e-Voting), e-residency (2014), and cyber savvy population (95% of income tax returns filed online).
To unite Estonia’s capabilities in a focused and integrated manner, TalTech will recruit an outstanding researcher and research coordinator to be the ERA Chair Holder (together with a team of experienced researchers) who will head a new, multidisciplinary Centre for Maritime Cyber Security at TalTech. Plus, a Research Administration Manager will be recruited to support TalTech’s Research Administration Office. Reflecting important structural change, the Centre for Maritime Cyber Security will be created by integrating research capabilities from TalTech’s Estonian Maritime Academy and TalTech’s Centre for Digital Forensics and Cyber Security. The The ERA Chair Holder will foster research excellence in two research focus areas:
• Technical Dimensions of Cybersecurity in Maritime Technology.
• Human Aspects of Maritime Cybersecurity

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The MariCybERA Chair team has facilitated the change through:
- Designing a strategy around the mission of creating a Centre for Maritime Cybersecurity at TalTech that will combine multidisciplinary research expertise in maritime and engineering, computer science and cybersecurity and aims to become an internationally recognized academic research centre supporting a secure, reliable, and sustainable maritime sector.
- Bringing closer EMERA and other faculties in Taltech by enabling multidisciplinary research at the Centre for Maritime Cybersecurity.
- Developing 2 research priority focus after an extensive set of contacts with industry:
1. Technical Dimensions of Cybersecurity in Maritime Technology.
One research line is to develop and adapt methods that address the security efforts in the development life-cycle and showcase their applicability in the case studies selected from the ships and maritime infrastructures.
Conventional cyber-attacks that can expose the vulnerabilities of software, hardware and network components of AI-related assets and adversarial attacks launched against the data pipelines and operational systems constitute a major threat category. The research area focusing on developing security monitoring methods and tools that can be adapted and integrated into maritime systems.
2. Human Aspects of Maritime Cybersecurity.
Through by developing the H.A. the group which uses a multidisciplinary, human-centric research approach integrating psychology, cybersecurity, and maritime operations. The group emphasizes the role of human behaviour, cognition, and decision-making. Research from the group focuses on situational awareness, cognitive processes, and human performance in cyber operations.

These priorities enable the chair holder to address some of the most urgent needs of the industry in relation with maritime cybersecurity:
• The emergence of the MariCybERA has resulted in a large set of international cooperation, with NTNU, Kokta maritime research centre in Finland, the different universities etc., that is installing the regional and European visibility of the chair.

Sustainability of the research and activities under the umbrella of the MariCybERA is essential. The team has developed a strategy targeting the long-term sustainability of the center. It has also implemented several activities toward the sustainability:
o Working toward developing a diverse team to support the long-term activities of the chair.
We identified four categories of team members:
Academics or researcher already with positions in TalTech or other institution that are working closely with the chair
Post-doc and mid-career researchers
PhD students
Research Managers
o Ensuring financial sustainability through developing project proposals for different funding agencies. The project team has submitted 46 proposals with 6 being funded 2 still under review.
o Improving the institutional sustainability inside TalTech through installing MariCybERA as an important research excellence and educational component of the university with visible publications and launching some postgraduate training initiatives.

Supervised/published 4 PhD and12 MSc theses, of which the majority are related to cybersecurity in the transportation sector. The academic and industrial networks with more than 76 Estonian and EU partners have been established for teaching and/or research activities. The team has submitted 47 project proposals and have got funding for 9.

The team has produced news articles that were circulated in an electronic format to different stakeholders and uploaded to the project web maricybERA.taltech.ee shared on our social media channels. We have given overview of activities on our social media platforms:
LinkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/maricybera/
Twitter https://twitter.com/cyb_era
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@MariCybERA

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Main goal is to develop a sustainable long-term collaboration network with different sectors both in Estonia and internationally.
The center aims to become a sustainable center. Therefore we need to diversify our funding. In addition to the project plan, we are planning to target most of the bigger funding calls related to the topic, also develop graduate school and find additional funding for it.

The key targets for 2026-2030 include the following:
• The defense of 5 doctoral theses:
• The recruitment of 2-3 PhD students. Number depends on received funding.
• At least 10 ETIS 1.1. publications (in Q1, Q2 journals)
• At least 15 ETIS 3.1. publications (WoS, Scopus, IEEE)

The expected impact of MariCybERA project includes:

- Increased participation in the EU R&I Framework Programme projects;
- Increased coordination of the EU R&I Framework Programme projects;
- Strenghtened and wider academic and industrial networks accross Europe to support excellent research;
- Increased attractiveness for other researchers and PhD student;
- Increased visibility of the research in maritime cybersecurity;
- Effective collaboration with Estonian and European policymakers in the field of maritime cybersecurity;
- Increased engagement with academic, industrial, public stakeholders, and the public at large.

MariCybERA project collaboration with NTNU

MariCybERA project team strategy meeting 2022

MariCybERA project meeting