It may be noted that Jamming of a GPS signal, where the GPS is unable to show a position is fairly easy to detect but it is difficult to detect a spoofing attack, where the position may only be marginally in error, nonetheless slowly but surely misleading every instrument connected to the set. This kind of an attack used to be a war-time remedy for enemy fleets, however, there is ready technology available for using this in most parts of the world.
Manipulated Global Positioning System (GPS) signals have caused collisions, groundings, and environmental disasters. Hence imperative that while technology has eased up the position fixing environment on the bridge, we understand its limitations and do not replace the good old radar bearing and distance fixes or the parallel indexing techniques.
As a best practice, compare the position on the GPS set itself and that on the ECDIS or Radar – should be done at-least once a watch in open sea conditions and every hour when coasting.
AIS – Automatic Identification System
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a ship to ship and shore radiobroadcasting system, using VHF (Very High Frequency). Working on a hand-shake principle, the AIS provides data of experienced traffic and feeds the radar and ECDIS, making the environment more meaningful. As a practice (right or wrong), it is routinely used to establish radio contact with oncoming targets in high traffic density areas. AIS is also used in Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), search and rescue operations (SAR) and accident investigation. Integrity of the transmitted information is critical to situational awareness and collision avoidance at sea.
AIS transponders communicate over the air without any authentication or integrity checks. This vulnerability can be easily exploited by introducing supplementary signals via a Software Defined Radio (SDR) and place fake “man-in-water” beacons, rendering the ship invisible or corrupting the information signals
of the system. Making decisions based on potentially incorrect information can have catastrophic results. Furthermore, AIS data is publicly available via websites and apps such as Vessel Finder, Marine Traffic and Equasis; this brings about another set of problems, where the position and route of the ships becomes public knowledge and is ripe for a targeted attacker.
ECDIS – Electronic Chart Display Information System
The Electronic Chart Display Information System (ECDIS) has revolutionised modern day navigation and is mandated by the IMO for all commercial vessels. The challenge with the system is that it uses electronic charts which need to be up to date; while the corrections/ corrected charts can be received over the internet, the exposure this creates can have a debilitating effect on the vessels primary element – Navigation. Most companies are aware of this glaring vulnerability and have established adequate SOP’s for handling the process.
54 | The Report • September 2020 • Issue 93
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