A Red Teaming Framework for Securing AI in Maritime Autonomous Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive red teaming framework designed to evaluate and enhance the security of AI in maritime autonomous systems, addressing vulnerabilities and preventing potential catastrophic failures.

Contribution

It presents one of the first tailored red team frameworks for maritime AI security, enabling proactive and reactive assessment of vulnerabilities in real-world autonomous systems.

Findings

Effective in uncovering vulnerabilities like poisoning and adversarial attacks

Framework adaptable to different maritime systems and requirements

Helps prevent catastrophic events related to AI security in maritime contexts

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being ubiquitously adopted to automate processes in science and industry. However, due to its often intricate and opaque nature, AI has been shown to possess inherent vulnerabilities which can be maliciously exploited with adversarial AI, potentially putting AI users and developers at both cyber and physical risk. In addition, there is insufficient comprehension of the real-world effects of adversarial AI and an inadequacy of AI security examinations; therefore, the growing threat landscape is unknown for many AI solutions. To mitigate this issue, we propose one of the first red team frameworks for evaluating the AI security of maritime autonomous systems. The framework provides operators with a proactive (secure by design) and reactive (post-deployment evaluation) response to securing AI technology today and in the future. This framework is a multi-part checklist, which can be tailored to different systems and requirements. We demonstrate this framework to be highly effective for a red team to use to uncover numerous vulnerabilities within a real-world maritime autonomous systems AI, ranging from poisoning to adversarial patch attacks. The lessons learned from systematic AI red teaming can help prevent MAS-related catastrophic events in a world with increasing uptake and reliance on mission-critical AI.