# Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Maritime Vessel Cyber Resilience through Security Operation Centers
## 2 Background
### Maritime Future with Remote Operations Centers (ROCs)
Another study by [57] sought to mitigate time delays in ship-to-shore communication by applying an augmented state cubature Kalman filter (AS-CKF). Concerns about insufficient link capacity were also raised by [58]. Their study began by highlighting weaknesses in the vertical handover mechanism, which is a common approach that has been suggested as a way to mitigate the link capacity problem. This led them to propose a ship-to-shore communication framework (SSCF) whose characteristics included the ability to be self-adaptive, source-agnostic, lossless, and secure. They then built a network optimizer that met the SCCF framework principles. Their evaluation to investigate whether it would satisfy both ROC and M-SOC data requirements turned out successful, even though it will need future fine-tuning to remove excess noise in the data. When it comes to the actual operation of an autonomous vessel, research by [49] developed an architecture that is well representative of how these vessels will be managed. Their architecture had a strong focus on the vital role played by connectivity as an enabler for autonomous vessel operation. One standout feature in their architecture was the incorporation of a connectivity manager as one of its core components. Its function was to help control the information flow between the vessel and the ROC [59]. Research by [60] sought to investigate how both satellite and terrestrial connectivity can be integrated to facilitate autonomous vessel operation. Their architecture similarly utilized a connectivity manager whose functions included prioritizing and allocating data to the available communication channels, ensuring there is enough capacity for the data to be transmitted, and that the data reaches its destination within the pre-defined latency requirements. This functionality is very similar to the Ship Shore Manager (SSM) defined by [34] whose function was to ensure that all data collected onboard was properly received at the shoreside within the specified bandwidth limits. Here, we can see that there is an overlap of components that provide similar functionality for both M-SOCs and ROCs. Thus, the development of ROCs could be informed by the progress that has been made within M-SOCs just as it can be informed by existing remote operation centers used within other critical infrastructure sectors. This should be done while considering the specificity of the challenges faced by the maritime domain. Contextual information is also relevant when it comes to the safe operation of autonomous vessels in the ROC. One study by [61] introduced the concept of the operational envelope, which defines conditions and scenarios under which an autonomous vessel is meant to optimally function, ship system context, voyage and operational phases, and the division of responsibility between the operator and vessel. It also includes what they defined as a state space, which includes the environment (traffic density, wind, temperature)and the system (sensors, engine state, ship stability). Additional research that has utilized the concept of the operational envelope includes [62; 63].