KR Awards AIP to SHI for Ship Cyber Resilience Implementation Technology

[By: Korean Register]

KR (Korean Register) has awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) to Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for 'design and test procedures for implementing cyber resilience of ship and onboard systems based on IACS UR E26 and E27'. The AIP was presented at Gastech 2023 in Singapore on September 6.

The application of ICT technology to ships, e.g. smart ship solutions, etc., is expanding. Cyber threats such as hacking and ransomware are an increasing risk as the integration and digitalization of operational technology and information technology systems accelerates.

To address this, the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) introduced UR E26 and E27 last year. These are unified requirements for enhancing cyber resilience of ships and onboard systems. These requirements are set to become mandatory for ships contracted for construction on or after January 1, 2024. Cyber resilience goes beyond safeguarding ships against cyber threats and includes minimizing the impact of such incidents to ensure operational safety.

Since October last year, KR has been collaboratively developing design and verification methods for implementing cyber resilience based on UR E26 and E27 with SHI. This partnership was formed to proactively meet IACS's mandatory guidelines. This AIP award recognizes the successful collaboration of joint development between KR and SHI. KR provided SHI with technical advice on ship cyber resilience application technology, including security functions and network design for ship operational systems, and contributed to securing the base technology for applying cyber resilience to ships built by SHI.

KIM Yeontae, Executive Vice President of KR’s Technical Devision, said: “This AIP award to Samsung Heavy Industries serves as an opportunity to internationally publicize the excellence of KR's ship cyber resilience technology. KR will continue to strengthen our technology and certification capability for ship cyber resilience with the goal of providing a higher level of service to our customers.”

JANG Haeki, Executive Vice President(CTO) of SHI Engineering Operations, said: "It is expected that the security of ships built by Samsung Heavy Industries will be further enhanced through this certification, which includes security application technology for cyber resilience of essential systems in ships as well as ships registered by KR, leading marine digital technology in shipbuilding."

Since 2018, KR has been providing company and ship certification services, type approval, and technical services for maritime cybersecurity, as well as online and offline training programs to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities for employees in the maritime industry.