As the maritime industry embraces digitalization and faces rising cybersecurity demands, the IEC 61162 family of standards—especially IEC 61162-450 and -460—plays a vital role in enabling secure, standardized communication between onboard systems. This white paper outlines the evolution of these protocols from serial to Ethernet-based communication and highlights their importance in retrofitting aging fleets and achieving compliance with new regulations such as IACS UR E26/E27. It also examines ISO 16425-based network design and shows how IEC 61162-460 strengthens vessel cybersecurity.