A Commentary and Exploration of Maritime Applications of Biosecurity and Cybersecurity Intersections

Abstract

Prior work has discussed the emerging fields of Biocybersecurity (BCS) and Cyberbiosecurity (CBS) in multiple forms. These include the definition, mission-awareness, general applications, and policy (Murch et al, 2018; Peccoud et al, 2019; Potter et al, 2020). One area that has received relatively little attention are unique BCS/CBS vulnerabilities with maritime theaters, which refers to ocean and littoral-based commercial and military ventures. There is considerable ground for both bioeconomies and militaries to be placed at risk of degraded capacity for activity due to maritime-specific BCS/CBS attacks presently in the future. This is especially the case where aforementioned vulnerabilities are used to disrupt logistics through targeting of personnel and means of transport. This paper discusses the growing relevance of CBS/BCS in maritime space, aspects of maritime environments that can be exploited for BCS attacks, possible BCS/CBS attacks in the near future, possible BCS/CBS means of defense and pre-emptive positioning, and discussion of BCS/CBS relevance in international policy, and differences in application. This paper aims to facilitate and accelerate discussion of BCS to spur helpful action in this area.