Simulating a Cyber-Attack on the Mass Thruster Controllers at Low-Speed Motion

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight the vulnerability of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) to cyber-attack and to illustrate, through a simulation experiment on a testbed, how to mitigate a cyber-attack on the MASS thruster controllers during low-speed motion. The first part of the paper is based on a scoping review of relevant articles in the field, including some MASS projects, related cyber threats and modelling techniques to improve cyber resilience. In the second part of the paper, a cyber-attack on the MASS thruster controllers at low speed motion is illustrated along with the impact of the attack on the trajectory motion. The Kalman filter, as an additional device to the thruster controllers, is used as a cyber-attack mitigation aid. Under the conditions of a simulated intrusion on the input and output signals of the thruster, the experiments conducted in the MATLAB Simulink environment provide an insight into the behaviour of the MASS propulsion subsystem from the perspective of the low-speed trajectory, with and without the Kalman filter.