Critical infrastructure software security: A maritime shipping study case

Elisa Heymann and Bart Miller explain how they performed an in-depth assessment of software controlling maritime container shipping, exposing opportunities for an attacker to smuggle goods or divert shipments and even damage personnel and ships.

We know that serious attacks on software occur worldwide on a daily basis, targeting individuals, corporations, and governments alike. When these attacks target the software that controls critical infrastructure such as the power grid or maritime container shipping, the consequences can be even more serious. Vulnerabilities in the software that supports container shipping can disrupt commerce and enable smuggling, theft, and terrorism. These software vulnerabilities can even sink ships. The key to the prevention of such attacks is a comprehensive cybersecurity program that includes an in-depth vulnerability assessment of the software that control the shipping process. Elisa Heymann and Bart Miller explain how they applied in-depth vulnerability assessment techniques to a critical part of the software that controls container shipping, the terminal operating system (TOS). The in-depth vulnerability assessment is based on their First Principles Vulnerability Assessment (FPVA) methodology. The goal of this methodology is to identify the key (high-value) assets in the system, determine their exposure to threats, and then perform detailed analysis of the code associated with those assets. This process proceeds without a preconceive notion of what threats or vulnerabilities might be present. Elisa and Bart outline the process that they followed, detail the vulnerabilities they found, and offer suggestions for remediating these vulnerabilities.