Overview The National Strategy for Aviation Security (NSAS) (Trump, 2018), signed by the President in Dec 2018, identifies that the "aviation ecosystem" includes all aspects of airports, airlines, aircraft, airlift, actors and aviation management. The FAA NextGen Organization has established the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Cybersecurity Data Science (CSDS) research program to accelerate the aviation industry’s timely adoption and adaptation of novel CSDS and Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) technologies for the enhancement of cybersecurity for the airline, airport, and aircraft elements of the national aviation ecosystem to increase safety and resilience.
Recent cyber-attacks and existing cyber-threats to critical infrastructure exemplify the complexity of securing operational technology (OT) driven industries such as aviation, including potential aviation safety and efficiency cyber-risks. Aviation systems present unique and different constraints and challenges compared to the current, mostly IT-based, cybersecurity approaches. Hence, the aviation industry needs to focus on developing effective methods for aviation cybersecurity.
The CSDS Aviation Architecture Framework (AAF) is defined using a system-of-systems approach for establishing a top-down framework across the entire aviation ecosystem, with a reference model supporting cross-domain and cross-stakeholder sharing. Stakeholder engagement is critical for the CSDS AAF research program to develop relevant use cases and identify future CSDS program stakeholder collaboration candidates. CSDS AAF will be beneficial for stakeholders to enhance proactive cyber defense as it enables the adaptation of select methodologies, integration of them into relevant operational environments and transfer of findings through shareable artifacts and use cases.
Partners
- FAA ANG-E271
- Astronautics
- Collins Aerospace
- GE Aerospace
- Gulfstream Aerospace
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Lab - MIT LL
- The Boeing Company
- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
- United Airlines