SERDUX-MARCIM: Maritime Cyberattack simulation using Dynamic Modeling, Compartmental Models in Epidemiology and Agent-based Modeling

Abstract Cybersecurity protects computer data, programs, systems, and networks from unauthorized access, attacks, or theft. By studying cyberattacks, cybersecurity professionals gain insights into attackers’ tactics, techniques, and methods, which are crucial for developing effective defense strategies and preventing future attacks. This paper introduces SERDUX-MARCIM, a model for simulation, modeling, and analyzing cyberattacks’ propagation in maritime infrastructure, considering network-specific characteristics and target and attacker capabilities. This proposal is supported by a simulation environment in Matlab and Netlogo, considering some of the most accepted cyber risk assessment methodologies and compartmental models in epidemiology. Considering the complexities of the maritime sector. SERDUX-MARCIM is also validated through extensive experimentation in different attack scenarios that represent real-world cyber campaigns in the maritime sector, showing the effectiveness of our proposal.