Hacking a Cyber Vessel: Ballast System Attack Demo | The Cybersecurity Podcast
This isn’t a Hollywood script—it’s real, repeatable, and dangerously overlooked.
In this episode of Threat Talks, ON2IT's Luca Cipriano and Jeroen Scheerder walk you through an attack scenario: remotely manipulating a vessel’s ballast system using real-world OT components.
The result? A physical tilt that could dump containers—or sink the ship.
This isn’t a thought experiment. It’s a wake-up call for maritime security and operational technology leaders.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Inside Damen Shipyards simulator
00:40 – Meet Luca & Jeroen
02:00 – Building the hackable boat
05:20 – Ballast system: how it works, how to break it
09:00 – Remote access: Starlink, WiFi, and flat networks
14:00 – From access to payload: hijacking the PLC
18:00 – Defending OT: Zero Trust, segmentation, real fixes
🧠 Key Topics Covered
• Ballast system hacking: real attack paths
• PLC and OT network weaknesses in vessels
• Why most vessel cyber security fails by design
• Maritime cyber risk: lessons beyond the shipping industry
• Real-world OT/IT convergence—and what attackers exploit
• Preview of ON2IT’s hands-on Capture the Flag challenge
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🗺️ Explore the Hack's Route in Detail 🗺️
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