Special Session 16

SPECIAL SESSION #16

Alan Oliveira

LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal

• alan@di.fc.ul.pt

Luís Pinto

LASIGE, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal

• lmpinto@ciencias.ulisboa.pt

Mario Marques

Centro de Investigação Naval (CINAV), Portugal

The influence of the cyber domain in the naval environment is increasing. Maritime systems are inevitably aligning with global trends and adopting the advanced technologies of Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), smart sensors, and more. These technologies provide significant advantages to various naval sectors, including military and merchant navies, as well as offshore industries.

Considering the expanding role of the cyber domain in the maritime environment, the CyMar Special Session at the IEEE TechDefense is organized to explore the latest developments in cybersecurity mechanisms and AI technologies for maritime systems. This session aims to gather innovative approaches to safeguarding maritime vessels and infrastructure against cyber threats, also leveraging AI-based solutions for improving the reliability and efficiency of maritime operations (both in military and commercial maritime sectors).

In this sense, CyMar seeks original contributions on the following themes (but not limited to):

• Security tools and instruments in the naval scope:
• Security Information and Event Management - SIEM;
• Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS);
• Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS);
• Vulnerability Management Systems;
• Security Tests;
• Security Event Correlation.
• Cybersecurity mechanisms, attack modeling, and characterization of vulnerabilities in naval sensors and systems:
• Integrated Bridge Systems (IBS);
• Electronic Chart Display Information System (ECDIS);
• Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems;
• Systems that interface with electronic navigation systems and propulsion/maneuvering systems;
• Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS);
• Radar and ARPA equipment;
• Positioning systems (GPS, etc.);
• Automatic Identification System (AIS);
• Other monitoring and data collection systems.
• Standards, conformity, and risk assessment for cybersecurity of maritime sensors and systems;
• Applied Cryptography in communications systems.
• AI-based applications for:
• maritime surveillance;
• safe autonomous navigation;
• predictive maintenance of maritime systems;
• energy efficiency in naval transportation;
• route planning;
• port logistics optimization.

Alan Oliveira de Sá, holds a Ph.D. in Informatics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2019), received the M.Sc. degree in electronic engineering from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (2015), and graduated in electronic engineering at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Center for Technological Education (2006). He served as an Officer in the Brazilian Navy (Lieutenant, Engineer) in the area of weapon systems from 2006 to 2013 and then as a professor of computer science in the Brazilian Navy until 2021. He is currently a Professor at the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, and a member of the LASIGE - Computer Science and Engineering Research Centre. His research interests include cybersecurity, defense systems, control systems, and intelligent systems.

Luís R. Pinto, holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (2018) and received the M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (2011). He is currently Professor at the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, and a member of the LASIGE – Computer Science and Engineering Research Centre. His research interests include drones, wireless communications, robotics, and real-time systems.

Mario Monteiro Marques, has a 5-year degree in Weapons and Electronic Engineering from the Portuguese Naval Academy, an MSc in Electrical Engineering and an MSc in Electronic Warfare with distinction from Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey USA, and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Was commissioned on board the N.R.P. "Pereira D’Eça" as Chief of Weapons and Electronics (2000-2002). Afterwards, he was commissioned on board the N.R.P. "João Roby" as Chief of Weapons and Electronics (2002-2003). He was nominated Weapons and Electronic Department Head on the N.R.P. "Vasco da Gama" (2012-2013). He served at Naval Technologies School (2003-2005) and was Communication System Chief and as Communication System Department Head in the Direction of Technologies of Information and Communications (2008-2012). He served at the Portuguese Naval School as a lecturer on Radars, Automatic Control Systems, Weapon Systems, Information Security in Organizations, Security Procedures and Handling of Classified Information, Communications Systems (2013-2020). Between 2020 and 2022, he served as a Staff Officer at the Command of Cyber Operations. He was the Training Department Head at Cyber Defence School (2022-2024) and, since 2024, he is a Professor at Naval Academy, invited Professor at the Master on Information Security at University of Lisbon- Faculty of Sciences, invited Professor at the Master of Science in Business Analytics and Master of Science in Management at Nova School of Business & Economics. He has worked in several research projects with funding from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, and by the European Union (FP7, H2020, PT2020, PESCO), both as researcher and as Principal Investigator. He has written more than 20 proposals for the calls of: QREN, FP7, EDA, EAGRANTS, FCT, MDN. He has supervised over 10 MSc students, 40 scientific papers in journals and conference proceedings. He has participated in more than 10 NIAG Study Groups. Expert as an evaluator in the calls: EDF-2022-LS-RA-CHALLENGE-DIGIT-HTDP,EDF-2022-RA-MCBRN-HICP,EDF-2024-RA-GROUND-IWAS,EDF-2024-RA-SENS-ART,EDF-2024-LS-DA-SME-NT,EDF-2024-DA-GROUND-BLOS by European Defence Fund and HORIZON-CL3-2024-INFRA by the European Commission.