This insight examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping the cyber-risk landscape in maritime operations and why human judgement remains essential for detecting and responding to anomalies.
AI is reshaping the cyber-threat landscape around voyage optimisation far faster than most organisations can respond. As Cydome CEO Nir Ayalon notes, attackers no longer need to build exploits from scratch. They can buy mature malware kits for a few hundred dollars and use generative AI to repackage known payloads into fresh variants, rendering signature-based detection nearly useless.
AI also widens both the attack surface and the impact of a breach. Voyage optimisation systems depend on constant connectivity and large volumes of sensitive operational data, such as contracts, voyage logs, cargo details, and routing parameters. If any of this information is compromised, safety, routing decisions, and commercial integrity can all be affected.
The risk is heightened by the fact that only a small proportion of original equipment manufacturers incorporate security-by-design in new systems. Many maritime hardware platforms and digital tools, including those embedding AI for routing, crew management, or operational insights, ship with weak baseline protections. This leaves critical systems exposed before they even reach the vessel.
Attackers are also getting faster. Once a vulnerability in a firewall, VPN, or edge device is disclosed, criminals can weaponise it within hours or even minutes. Large organisations often take months to patch vulnerabilities, and maritime operations take even longer due to bandwidth, scheduling, and safety constraints. This creates an expanding window during which AI-enabled optimisation tools are vulnerable to automated scanning and cyber attack.
At the same time, AI is also being used defensively. Cybersecurity providers deploy AI and machine learning to analyse vast streams of operational technology, IT, navigation, and network data, looking for subtle anomalies that indicate spoofing or unauthorised access. Internal teams use AI to simulate attacker behaviour, test defences, and ensure detection models keep pace with emerging threats.
However, cyber risk is one of the strongest arguments for keeping humans firmly in the loop. AI can flag anomalies, but mariners and engineers are often the first to notice when something does not feel right. Examples include GNSS positions that do not match visual observations, route suggestions that contradict experience, or weather patterns inconsistent with local conditions.
Combining AI-based anomaly detection with human intuition is therefore central to maintaining cyber resilience in an AI-enabled voyage optimisation environment.
To explore how a balanced human-AI approach can strengthen voyage optimisation in safety-critical conditions, read the full Thought Leadership report ‘Co-Pilots of the Sea: Exploring the Human Intelligence Behind Maritime AI’ produced in partnership with StormGeo.
Â
