ISCAP Proceedings: Abstract Presentation
Assessing the Maritime Domain Awareness Tool for Cybersecurity Incident Response: A Gap Analysis
Matt Lievre
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Ulku Clark
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Bilge Karabacak
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Edwin Garces
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Abstract
The Maritime Domain Awareness Tool (M-DAT), developed by Idaho National Laboratory, is a standalone desktop application that supports emergency decision-making in maritime environments. Originally built to assist emergency planners in routing vessels and managing port logistics following natural disasters and conflicts, M-DAT was not designed with cybersecurity incident management as a core use case. The goal of this study is to identify potential improvements to M-DAT so that it can be effectively used as a cyber incident response tool. With this purpose in mind, we identified the critical cybersecurity and operational security needs of commercial ports through a systematic literature review of 56 peer-reviewed papers. We verified the literature review findings through architecture analysis and expert consultations. The literature review revealed that effective maritime security tools share a consistent set of capabilities, including OT and cyber asset inventory, incident coordination, dependency mapping, recovery planning, and vulnerability tracking. As a future study, we plan to review the literature covering emerging issues such as Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships and the use of AI in maritime routing and port operations.