Help Needed For DEF CON 27

We are bringing together what is probably the largest to date concentration of actual SMEs in ICS/OT maritime tech security this year for the first ever maritime and ship hacking village at DEF CON, Hack The Sea 1.0

We will have policy makers from US government and NGOs, white hat hackers demonstrating zero days in ship systems, and workshops to train people in securing ship systems

Our team has been doing reverse engineering, policy advocacy, and ethical vulnerability disclosure out of our own pockets for two years.

Bottomline--we are tapped out financially after supporting this out of our own pockets for so long.  We have been paying the expenses for Hack The Sea to be at DEF CON, and we are just flat broke.

We need help to continue our efforts, which most of us have done in our free time while holding down full-time paid jobs elsewhere in cyber security.

We need help from sponsors to make this happen and continue our efforts.  MPS-ISAO has generously agreed to help us, and to accept donations as a NFP to fund our event, but we need help.  If you or anyone you know can contribute please contact us.  Thanks!

Hack The Sea 2019

Project Gunsway's boarding party is headed to DEF CON 27.  Our proposal for a maritime ICS/OT and ship hacking village has been officially accepted.  We hope everyone will join us for this inaugural event.  

Who: Project Gunsway and You

What: Hack The Sea Village 2019

When: August 8-11, 2019

Where: Bally's Event Center, DEF CON 27, Las Vegas

Why: 

• Team ship hacking CTF by Fathom5

• Beginner's ship hacking CTF

• Talks about ship hacking

• Booty (aka swag)

• Seasteading Hackathon

• Because, Arrgh!

Captain Ron was on the loose shoreside at BSides Columbus.  Check out video at IronGeek for all the details from his latest rum-infused adventures in the Caribbean.

TeamWork

It is amazing what you can accomplish with teamwork.

Hope to have some big announcements about the Project Gunsway team soon.

Videos

Our talk from DerbyCon is now up on IronGeek for your viewing edification.  We have also added a page for videos from conferences.

• Primer for Modern Pirates DerbyCon 2018

Also,  be sure to check out our colleague and I Am The Cavalry volunteer Stephan Gerling's recent yacht talk from Hacklu conference.

• Yacht Hacking Hacklu 2018

Legacy of the Gunsway

In August of 1695, a twenty-five ship convoy left Mocha on the Arabian peninsula bound for Surat, India.  The convoy belonged to the Indian Mughal dynasty’s Emperor Aurangzeb and was led by his treasure-laden flagship the Ganj-i-Sawai. Laying in wait was another flotilla—five pirate ships led by English mutineer and former Royal Navy officer Henry Every.

After a fierce battle, the Ganj-i-Sawai (anglicized as “Gunsway”) was captured by the pirates, along with her escort ship the Fateh Muhammed. The pirates sailed away with an estimated £600,000 in treasure, or adjusting for inflation from 1700, approximately $123,000,000. They also left dozens dead. The incident would nearly lead to war between the British and Mughal empires, and the famed British East India Company was nearly forced out of business.

Ships like Every’s 46-gun privateer, the Fancy, were the pinnacle of 17th century technology. Every’s crew used their mastery of that technology to steal a fortune in gold, silver, and jewels. It also allowed them to evade the ensuing, first of its kind, global manhunt from Madagascar to the Bahamas. Eventually six of the Fancy’s crew of 150 pirates were captured, tried, convicted and hanged in London. But the rest, including Every, escaped justice and disappeared with their treasure.

The details of the attack were embellished and glamorized in English popular culture in plays, books, and songs. This led to countless copy-cat acts of piracy, including inspiring the career of the infamous Edward Teach, better known as “Black Beard”.

A Maritime Internet of Things (IoT)

Today, our reliance on computers and information technology is increasing faster than our ability to safeguard ourselves. Modern ships are increasingly automated with industrial control systems (ICS), and networked via satellite and cellular broadband communications, making them a floating extension of the Internet of Things (IoT).

With $19 Trillion in goods, about the value of the entire U.S. economy, transported by these ships annually, there is a strong incentive for criminals to attack the computers on which the maritime industry now depends. Beyond the financial stakes, these cyber-physical attacks pose significant risk to public safety and human life.

Mastery of maritime technologies, will determine whether authorities are able to safeguard our ports, ships, offshore oil and gas platforms, and other critical infrastructure, or whether modern criminals and terrorists are able to commit the next “Gunsway” attack with the same impunity as Henry Every and his crew.