CYBERSEA

The CYBERSEA project aims to improve cyber risk management and the resilience of maritime shipping organizations by developing tailored communication, coordination, and collaboration systems. Despite technological advances, the maritime industry continues to face significant risks, particularly with the rise of electronic navigation technologies, which introduce new vulnerabilities such as cyberattacks. CYBERSEA seeks to address these challenges by building heuristic models and dynamic organizational capabilities at the individual, team, and ship-to-shore collaboration network (SSCN) levels. The project addresses three research questions: (1) How can maritime organizations strengthen their capabilities to address risks associated with digital transformation? (2) What management systems can improve cyber risk resilience in SSCNs? (3) How can decision-making be improved for novices and experts during cyber crises?

Using a multi-method approach, CYBERSEA integrates ethnography, surveys, and experiments with maritime simulators to study digital transformation, cyber risks, and decision-making during emergencies. The theoretical frameworks include digital security, organizational culture, and naturalistic decision-making (NDM), which focuses on how individuals make decisions under pressure.

CYBERSEA is innovative in that it emphasizes the human and organizational factors of cyber resilience. It aims to provide practical recommendations aligned with international standards (IMO, NIST, ISO/IEC 27001) for maritime operators. The project’s results will have significant socioeconomic and environmental impacts by improving safety and security in the maritime sector.

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