ABS, a leading provider of classification and technical services to the global marine and offshore industries, has been awarded a research contract by the Maritime Security Center (MSC) – a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Excellence, led by Stevens Institute of Technology – for a two-year research program focused on defining the future of cybersecurity for the maritime industry. Study participants, which include DHS and the Department of Defense, will focus on key areas that will help define future research and guidance.
The MSC-sponsored research project has a number of significant objectives that include defining risk-based performance standards better, developing a maritime-specific framework for cyber policy, identifying critical points of cybersecurity failure, developing design requirements for a maritime cyber test-bed and investigating quantitative analysis tools to determine the effectiveness of cyber detection and deterrent strategies.
Safety and environmental protection are fundamental to ABS; so the need to expand the concept of cybersecurity was apparent. ABS assembled a cyber team and introduced the ABS CyberSafety™ program in February 2016. ABS CyberSafety is the industry’s first risk-based management program for asset owners and operators to apply best practice approaches to cybersecurity, automated systems safety, data integrity and software verification. ABS launched the ABS CyberSafety Laboratory earlier this year with a team of experts to prove, analyze and test data integrity and cybersecurity concepts.
About ABS
Founded in 1862, ABS is a leading international classification society devoted to promoting the security of life and property and preserving the natural environment through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine and offshore assets.