Towards Blockchain-Enabled Cybersecurity Risk Assessment for Cyber-Ship Systems

The shipping sector is undergoing significant technological advancements, with vessels becoming more interconnected and reliant on automation, artificial intelligence, and real-time data. While these advancements improve the intelligence and efficiency of shipping, they also increase the vulnerabilities of ships to escalating cyber threats, such as GPS spoofing, ransomware attacks, and communication. These threats can disrupt global supply chains, compromise safety, and cost millions in damages. Despite these challenges, most cybersecurity measures in the maritime industry still rely on centralized security models, which are slow to detect threats and leave ships vulnerable to large scale attacks. This work proposes a Blockchain-Enabled Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Framework for cyber-ship systems. Our approach utilizes the immutable capabilities of blockchain, along with decentralized threat intelligence and automated security, to create a robust and proactive cybersecurity framework.