Aviation Cybersecurity: An Overview

Information security—aka cybersecurity—is the most rapidly growing threat to critical infrastructures, including the aviation industry. Due to the plethora of digital devices, ubiquity of the Internet and other networks, and the rapid growth in the adoption of technology, everyone is an information system security manager. Every professional in the aviation and aeronautics industry use computers, mobile devices, tablets, GPS devices, and/or other hardware on a daily basis, as well as go online for a variety of reasons.

Attacks on information have been ongoing since the inception of the industry a hundred years ago, in such forms as intellectual property theft and industrial espionage. But the threats today have expanded to use the Internet as a threat vector, used by cybercriminals and other professional attackers on aerospace and defense organizations, creating national security vulnerability and an existential threat to the industry.

This presentation will present a high-level view of the threat vectors in the aviation industry. The different sectors within the industry will be described and potential threat vectors within the sectors identified. The "systems of systems" comprising the industry will be addressed in order to demonstrate how threats can emanate from one "trusted" organizations to another. Points of entry for cyberattacks will be addressed, such as networks, communications systems, the Internet of Things, and human error.