Maritime IT Security
The goal of the Maritime IT Security research group is to conduct impactful research into cyber threats to the Maritime Transportation System (MTS). This will be achieved by leveraging our skills across disciplines within NHL Stenden in Ethical Hacking, Secure Programming, Serious Gaming, Maritime Technology, Maritime Officer Training, Marine Shipping Innovations and Cyber Safety. Student groups from all these disciplines contribute to the research, and our scope, apart from traditional maritime activities, includes inland water, port facilities and other critical elements of the MTS.
Research themes
Maritime Cyber Attack Database (MCAD)
Maritime Technology Hacking Lab
Maritime Cyber Incident Simulations
Webinars
The Maritime IT Security professorship organises regular webinars that are free to attend. Often with a guest speaker with expertise on the subject. Watch recordings of the webinars.
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'Current cyber threats in maritime security' (April 13 2022)
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'Cyber attacks on maritime navigation' (November 29 2022)
Simulation exercise Dutch Coast Guard
The Dutch Coast Guard visited the MSTC simulators at the Maritime Institute Willem Barentsz (MIWB) on Terschelling. During this exercise, a hack on a ship was simulated by the MITS research group.
- McCombie, S. J., & Pijpker, J. (2022, November). A Ship Honeynet Project to Collect Data on Cyber Threats to the Maritime Sector. In CYBER 2022, The Seventh International Conference on Cyber-Technologies and Cyber-Systems (pp. 81-85). Best paper award.
- Pijpker, J., & McCombie, S. J. (2023, October). A ship honeynet to gather cyber threat intelligence for the maritime sector. In 2023 IEEE 48th Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Workshop keynote.
- Johnson, S., Hassing, R., Pijpker, J., & Loves, R. (2024, September). A Modular Generative Honeypot Shell. In 2024 IEEE International Conference on Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR) (pp. 387-394). IEEE.
- Turner, A., McCombie, S. J., & Uhlmann, A. J. eds (2024). The impacts of cyber threats in the maritime ecosystem. Frontiers in Computer Science, 6, 1378160.
- Uhlmann, A. J., & McCombie, S. J. (2024). Russian Active Measures in the 2016 US Presidential Election: 'Useful Idiots' and Intelligence Agencies. In Routledge Handbook of the Influence Industry (pp. 134-144). Routledge.
- Pijpker, J., McCombie, S., Johnson, S., Loves, R., & Makrakis, G. M. (2024). An Open-Source Database of Cyberattacks on the Maritime Transportation System. Prepub.
- Brouwer S., Pijpker, J.,& Mohsen F. (2025). HoneyShip: Unveiling Cyber Threats to Maritime VSAT Systems with a High-Interaction Honeypot. In 2025 8th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS).
- Struijk M., Pijpker, J.,& Mohsen F. (2025). Demonstrating Practical Attacks on Maritime Cyber-Physical Systems via Exposed NMEA Gateways. In 2025 13th International Conference on Cyber-Physical Systems.
Team members
Contact
If you have a question about one of our projects or you’d like to know about the possibilities for collaborating with students, then contact us!
NHL Stenden
Professorship Maritime IT Security
mits@nhlstenden.com
