Centre for Maritime Cybersecurity
The Maritime Cybersecurity Centre was established as part of the EU funded Horizon 2020 project called MariCybERA.
The project aimed to create an ERA Chair (European Research Area) in Maritime Cybersecurity at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) by integrating the research capabilities of TalTech's Estonian Maritime Academy and TalTech's Centre for Digital Forensics and Cyber Security. This integration was intended to address the cybersecurity challenges arising from the digital transformation of the maritime industry.
The Centre has the objective of becoming an internationally recognized academic research centre that supports a secure, reliable, and sustainable maritime sector. It takes advantage of Estonia's thriving ecosystem of cybersecurity and maritime stakeholders, including the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Estonian maritime associations, research institutions and private companies.
The research focus of the Centre is on developing innovative solutions to address the emerging security challenges in the maritime industry. This includes studying the threat landscape, identifying vulnerabilities in maritime systems, and developing cybersecurity measures to mitigate the risks posed by cyber-attacks. A key aspect of the research is to understand the unique challenges posed by the maritime environment, including e.g., limited connectivity and the need for real-time information exchange. Focusing on these specific areas, the Centre can ensure that its research has practical applications and can help to improve the cybersecurity of the maritime sector.
Funded by the Horizon 2020 EraChair program, the MariCybERA project supports bringing outstanding academics and high-level professionals in TalTech to develop maritime security expertise in the field.
Read more on MariCybERA website
VIDEO ABOUT MariCybERA ERA CHAIR
Centre for Maritime Cybersecurity Research Group
Head: Professor Sanja Bauk
Sanja Bauk is a tenured Associate Professor in Maritime Cybersecurity at the Estonian Maritime Academy (EMERA), Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). She holds a PhD in Intelligent Information Systems in Maritime and Port Transportation from the University of Belgrade, and has completed two postdoctoral research appointments at Karl Franzens University Graz (Austria) and RWTH Aachen University (Germany).
With over twenty-five years of academic experience, she has held teaching and research positions in Europe, Asia, South Africa, and the United States, and has served as a visiting professor or researcher at numerous internationally recognised universities.
Her research interests include maritime cybersecurity, digital transformation, operations research, maritime informatics, data analytics, optimisation, blockchain technologies, and emerging convergent technologies in maritime systems. She has authored and co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including journal articles indexed in SCI/SCIE/SSCI and Scopus, conference proceedings, book chapters, and several scientific monographs and university textbooks.
She is actively involved in international research collaboration and has contributed to and coordinated several high-impact international research and development projects, most notably the ERA Chair project “Cybersecurity in Maritime (MariCybERA)”, Horizon 2020 projects COMPASS and ePIcentar, and multiple Erasmus+ capacity-building and curriculum-development initiatives in maritime education and digital transformation.
Prof. Bauk has taught more than ten undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including Introduction to Computer Systems for Maritime Specialists, Maritime Industry’s Digital Transformation, Operations Research, Informatics, Maritime IT/OT Systems, ECDIS and RADAR/ARPA (simulation level), Logistics, Research Methodology, and Research Projects. She has supervised and mentored undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students and has played an active role in curriculum development and innovation in maritime higher education. Her academic excellence has been recognised through numerous awards for research productivity, teaching excellence, and international academic cooperation.
Members of the research group:
Dr. Leonidas Tsiopoulos, Dr. Risto Vaarandi. Dr. Ricardo Lugo and Prof. Rain Ottis.
Doctoral students:
Muhammed Erbas, Triin Muulmann and Vanessa Roberts.
Ongoing projects
CyberSecPro aims to bridge the gap between degrees, working life, and marketable cybersecurity skillset necessary in the EU’s digitalization efforts and provide examples of best practices for cybersecurity training programmes. A practical and hands-on cybersecurity training programme to complement, support, and advance the existing academic programmes will be compiled.
ATHENA aims to improve cybersecurity protection readiness of the water sector, thereby targeting the integrated system of closely intertwined SME and public employees by enriching ENISA-s portfolio with up-to-date cybersecurity competence trainings in the water sector and enable staff along the entire chain of execution to respond to incidents that fit into the general operational and management strategies of the water sector.