MTU researchers and Defence Forces nullify simulated cyberattack on Irish port in exercise

A simulated cyberattack on an Irish port was neutralised by focused teams of Defence Forces Personnel, IT academics and hotshot student white hat hackers in an exercise at Munster Technological University (MTU).

The teams worked from a control room in MTU’s Nimbus Research Centre in Cork, using an IT sandbox where the threat can be launched, and neutralised, safely while replicating real-world infrastructure and environments.

MTU brought together participants from the Irish Naval Service, the Irish Defence Forces, and MTU researchers and students for the Cybersecurity Smart Maritime Challenge 2026.

The simulation exercise, which mirrored a real-world cyberattack on a maritime port and ship, was designed by Airbus in collaboration with MTU.

A port, like the Port of Cork, is attacked and disabled in the cyberattack simulation, and a ship is also attacked, so that the crew lose all control over its operation and it is blocking access to the port.

The teams, a mix of naval and army personnel, cybersecurity experts and students, have to disable the attack, regain control of the ship and use open source intelligence tools to identify the perpetrator and support Europol in apprehending the hacker group’s leader.

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