AIS Spoofing: A Tutorial for Researchers

Spoofing of Automatic Identification System (AIS) messages has evolved over the last decade from demonstrations of capability showing protocol vulnerabilities to performance art for researchers for showcasing various maritime scenarios to what is now a formidable maritime threat. This paper will provide an overview of the purpose of AIS, the protocol weaknesses, why signals are spoofed, and offer a detailed description of a specific spoofing example. Proposals for future research about AIS spoofing, how it can be detected, and the potential roles for machine learning and artificial intelligence are also presented.