Arya Tripathi, ESILV Class of 2027, completed a five-month maritime cybersecurity internship on the CyberSea project at ENSM, École Nationale Supérieure Maritime, in Nantes. The work involved designing and testing cyber-attack scenarios on a physical navigation simulator to support the training of future merchant navy officers.
From navigation data to physical access controls, the internship explored how cybersecurity threats could become practical exercises in a maritime teaching environment.
Maritime cybersecurity training on the CyberSea project
ENSM trains merchant navy officers and maritime engineers, with teaching covering navigation, ship operations and maritime safety. Practical experience, including placements and time at sea, forms part of its approach to preparing students for professional responsibilities.
At its Nantes site, Arya Tripathi contributed to the CyberSea project between April and August 2026. The assignment centred on ENSM’s physical SOMOS bridge simulator, which provided a controlled setting for developing navigation-linked cybersecurity exercises.
The deliverable was a library of cyber-attack training scenarios. Arya designed, built and tested these exercises directly on the simulator, translating identified vulnerabilities into situations intended for future marine officers.
Turning cyber threats into practical exercises
The scenarios covered several types of maritime cyber threats, including phishing, GPS spoofing and jamming, manipulation of electronic chart data, and attacks affecting navigation networks.
Each topic approached cybersecurity through a situation relevant to seafarers. Maritime-themed phishing addressed deceptive communications, while the navigation scenarios examined threats to the information used during bridge operations. Other exercises considered physical access and interactions with connected equipment.
Arya described the objective as turning “abstract maritime cyber threats into hands-on, safe learning experiences for future marine officers”.
This training purpose shaped the assignment. Building a scenario required both a technical understanding of the vulnerability and consideration of how learners would encounter it. The simulator provided a setting to develop and test these situations under controlled conditions.
Navigation systems, equipment and physical access
Part of the work concerned GPS and the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). These scenarios focused on the reliability of navigation information and the potential consequences of interference or data manipulation.
The library also included scenarios involving NMEA navigation networks, human interface device injections and RFID-related access vulnerabilities. Together, these topics extended the scope of the work from digital information to equipment and physical access procedures.
Arya gained practical experience using a Flipper Zero within the controlled simulator environment. The tool formed part of the testing work, alongside designing exercises that addressed different routes through which maritime systems could be exposed to cyber threats.
In the placement report, Arya emphasised misplaced trust, physical access, and procedural gaps as areas requiring attention. These observations provided a practical basis for exercises connecting technical vulnerabilities with everyday working practices.
Applying engineering skills to maritime training
The placement combined scenario design, implementation and testing with a specific educational objective. Arya had to consider both how an attack could affect the simulated environment and how that situation could support learning.
For an engineering student, this type of assignment requires adapting technical knowledge to the equipment, users and procedures of a particular sector. Here, the intended users were future marine officers, and the working environment was a ship’s bridge simulator.
Cybersecurity teaching at ESILV covers protecting information systems and connected technologies. Arya’s placement applied this field of engineering to maritime operations, with a concrete output: a library of scenarios designed, built and tested on ENSM’s SOMOS simulator for use in practical training.
Learn more about the major in Cybersecurity & IOT Trust