The Rise of Cybersecurity Threats in Aviation

As the world drives further into a technology-embraced future, it is safe to assume that the rise of cyber threats would also increase as well. This is evident in the figure below reported from aviation today (2021).

According to aviation today, most of these cyber-attacks were financially motivated, with the loss of personal data accounting for 34% of the cases (2021). This presents a severe issue to security in the aviation community today. The compounding effect of this issue is that almost every actor in the aviation community depends on technology, from the passenger to the supply chain, to the airport itself. If awareness of the threat and a plan are not in place, the results can be devastating.

In conjunction with other agencies, the transportation security agency (TSA) is working diligently to thwart these threats. In 2018 the TSA launched a cybersecurity roadmap assessing how to deal with cyber security threats (TSA, 2018). Using the layers of security model the TSA already has integrated, the TSA applies the same method to cyber security by increasing awareness, assessing and prioritizing cyber risks, and providing protective capabilities (TSA, 2018). While one single layer of this model may not be enough to respond to emerging cyber threats, the TSA believes a multitude of these layers can achieve the end state goal of safety in the cyber security realm.

 

References

Bellamy, W., III. (2021, July 12). New Eurocontrol Data Shows Airlines Increasingly Becoming Targets for Cyber Attacks. Aviation Today. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2021/07/12/new-eurocontrol-data-shows-airlines-increasingly-becoming-targets-cyber-attacks/

Inside Look: TSA Layers of Security | Transportation Security Administration. (2017, August 1). Tsa.Gov. https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2017/08/01/inside-look-tsa-layers-security

Transportation security administration. (2018). TSA cybersecurity roadmap 2018. Tsa.Gov. https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/tsa_cybersecurity_roadmap_adm_approved.pdf