Pirates of the North Sea

Undercover Red Teaming on Commercial Vessels

Maritime physical and logical security assessments evaluate how effectively commercial vessels and shipping companies protect onboard operational technology. In real-world engagements, red teamers board active passenger cruise ships disguised as regular guests to test physical boundaries.

Infiltrating Restricted Vessel Compartments

By exploiting social engineering opportunities and unlatched service corridors, operators successfully gained physical access to restricted zones, including ship communication centers and engine control rooms, while blending into crew and passenger traffic.

Bridging Physical Access to Vessel Operational Networks

Once inside control compartments, testers connected directly to shipboard network switches, bridging isolated passenger networks to critical operational buses. Vulnerabilities in maritime network segregation allowed testers to access navigation and propulsion systems.

Lessons for Maritime Fleet Security

Securing marine vessels requires enforcing electronic access controls on all crewways, hardening bridge network drops, and training crew members on physical tailgating and guest verification protocols.