The first Free Upskill Challenge (UC) in the Maritime Cybersecurity series focused on the technologies found aboard vessels sailing the seven seas. This UC takes a deeper look into one of the technologies highlighted, National Marine Electronics Association 2000 but more commonly known as NMEA 2000.
First, we will start from the beginning, focusing on the specific reasons the NMEA 2000 protocol was created and the challenges it hoped to overcome. After we get acquainted with its history, we will dive deep into the ones and zeros of the protocol and how it works, comparing and contrasting it with other CAN-based communication protocols found in cars and construction equipment. As with all security research, once we know how something works we can start to find ways to break it. The UC will then discuss different attack vectors that impact NMEA 2000. Finally, we will look through real data during an attack and identify some defensive techniques that can allow for the detection.
Price = FREE!
Goals for UC – NMEA 2000
At the end of this Upskill Challenge, you will walk away with a solid understanding of:
- The NMEA 2000 protocol
- Security vulnerabilities that NMEA 2000 devices face
- How to detect attacks against the same devices
Whatโs an Upskill Challenge (UC)?
A UC is a CTF-style, bite-sized lesson from the JHT Team, our courseware developers as well as โfriendsโ of JHT. They are meant to be short and to the point. UCs focus on a single tool or concept and are helpful in quickly providing useful skills that might be prerequisites for other types of educational content on the platform.
A UC should be 10 โ 30 minutes of student time and have no VMs. There are quizzes to make sure that the content is understood.
Prerequisites for UC – NMEA 2000
UCs assume no knowledge at all! Theyโre meant to be completely self-contained, so all of the answers are in the lesson. No outside research is required.

