Best Practices to Prevent, Mitigate and Respond to Cyber Attacks on Air Traffic Management Systems
2022-26-1256
05/26/2022
- Event
- Content
- Introduction With the digitization and advanced technology inclusions into the Air traffic management systems, there has been an increasing risk of cyber-attacks. The disruption to the computing, communication and control systems has been on an increase. These attacks along with equipment failures can have a far-reaching impact on the performance of the Air Traffic Management Systems. Cybersecurity is still uncommon and is more an after-thought than being engineered into the Systems. Description Deliberate attacks by Hackers have been demonstrated at some of the conferences where a ghost plane has been introduced in to the air space. In 2013, a German technology consultant claimed hacking Flight Management System with a simple android App and some easily available software and hardware. These increasing cyber-disruptions reflect a wider threat to the society which is pervasive, varied, and impactful. In consequence, an intense effort is needed to develop resilient cyber-systems that can protect against, detect, and remove threats. The outcomes of this wide effort on cyber- security are applicable to the air traffic management systems as well. Protecting and safeguarding each physical asset and communication channel is an impractical approach. The above-listed incidents highlight that a holistic approach is needed to resolve this problem. The air transportation infrastructure is a large scale cyber-physical system with multiple stakeholders and diverse legacy assets. Disruptions to the cyber- system can incur complex propagative impacts across the air transportation network, including its physical and human assets. Moreover, these implications of cyber- events are further enhanced by other disruptions such as severe weather, operator fatigue or error, etc. These characteristics motivate a holistic and strategic perspective on protecting the air transportation infrastructure from cyber- events. This paper talks about the vulnerabilities to the Air Traffic Management systems in detail and highlights the Best practices to prevent, mitigate and respond to the cyber-attacks on these systems.
- Citation
- Dubey, K., "Best Practices to Prevent, Mitigate and Respond to Cyber Attacks on Air Traffic Management Systems ," SAE Technical Paper 2022-26-1256, 2022, .