Cdr (ret) Bruno Bender
Maritime CyberSecurity Coordinator
PM's - Secretariat General of the Sea (SGMer)
Bruno BENDER joined the Navy as a Communication Officer in 1989. Experienced in C4I he conducted the
operational deployment of French and multinational systems on ships up to the size of an aircraft carrier. As
system security officer on ships and naval air stations he was involved in the security of ICT systems and
contributed to the development of the cybersecurity strategy for the French Navy. In 2018 he conducted for
the French Government a study on cybersecurity for the maritime domain. Building from the experience of its
long career as Navy officer first as communication and information system and C4I expert he became a
specialist in the area of information warfare and cybersecurity. He participated actively to the development of
a doctrine in these areas.
Since 2016 Bruno BENDER acts as an independent adviser for The French DoD and other ministries, the EU
commission and agencies (FRONTEX, ENISA, EDA) and as contractor for industrial defense companies and
coordinates the public – private cybersecurity partnerships for the maritime domain in France.
"EU CyberSecurity coordination center for the Maritime Domain"
The cybersecurity initiative developed in the presentation, presents specificities of the European maritime
community that has already developed wide cross sectorial cooperation’s and activities, an reminds cross
border existing initiatives and partnerships that need now to be developed, furthermore, under the scope
cybersecurity.
France promulgates public private partnerships within the French Maritime Committee (CFM) and cross
sectorial coordination for maritime administrations within the Secretary General for the sea (SG MER). This
entity coordinates the activity of eleven public administrations in areas as law enforcement, maritime security,
environment in support of economic activities. The mission of the public private maritime organisational
structure (French Maritime Committee) is to remove blockages as a transmission belt and to carry cooperation
projects. Cybersecurity is one of the priorities that has been identified and validated by public authorities and
private partners in support of the digital development of the maritime sector.
A national study conducted in 2018 raised the need to adapt the maritime sector to the national cybersecurity
strategy and to develop its internal coordination. Critical infrastructures and Essential Services are seen as
priorities, but cybersecurity has also to address small and medium enterprises.
Public private partnerships have been initiated for long times in the maritime sector, in the area of security
(naval cooperation, warning of navigation and shipping, harbour activities) and see a future Maritime
information coordination center as a possibility to adapt existing developments to the needs expressed by a
sector all over Europe facing a large digitalisation of its interconnected but specific services.
The need for coordination and situational information sharing is therefore presented by France. It constitutes a
pre-requisite and a first step towards global EU cybersecurity information sharing and a future capacity to face
cybersecurity threats and attacks in the maritime world.
A core project addressing potentially more than 600 entities is able to maintain a high level of exchanges via
the professional federations supporting the project developed in the presentation and wills to share the
project with operators within the EU.