Lessons Learned from Teaching a Maritime Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Course

A new technical elective course was taught in 2023 by the Cyber Science department at the U. S. Naval Academy. The goal of this course was to expose undergraduate students to the unique cybersecurity challenges and opportunities that exist in the Industrial Control Systems that are part of modern commercial vessels and warships. The course began with a survey of shipboard systems which included Propulsion, Electrical, Water, and Bridge Systems. Next, the students got hands-on practice coding ladder logic on Programmable Logic Controllers, from toggling lights to sending data via Modbus TCP. Finally, a project was completed where the students built a small-scale simulation of the alarms and monitoring system of local patrol craft. While these Operational Technology concepts have applications in many fields from energy production to smart cities, the maritime domain was chosen to ground in an important domain relevant to our students. This paper includes an outline of the course, what worked and didn’t, and changes envisioned in future offerings.