Tag

FAA

Browsing

FAA Inks Contract to Bolster Cybersecurity

By

FAA chooses firm to evaluate cyber threats

As the world becomes more reliant on technology and connected via digital networks, vulnerabilities increase. This rise in vulnerability is often due to potential breaches in these interlinked systems.

There is growing concern about the potential dangers related to such interconnectedness, including data breaches and loss of system use. This includes corporations, public agencies, and more recently, civil aviation.

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) [link url=”http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2016-09-15/astronautics-contracted-faa-cybersecurity-research” title=”contracted with Astronautics Corp.”] to bolster cybersecurity. Astronautics Corp. will establish methods to help manufacturers, maintenance facilities, and carriers protect airplanes and systems from cyber threats.

Ultimately, the research project will look to identify system security vulnerabilities, along with safety risks and threats. Following identification of threats will come the development of timely, repeatable and efficient processes. Estimated to take just under a year to complete, the project will be broken down into three stages:

  1. A mature safety risk assessment framework.
  2. The application of the safety risk assessment methodology on the ACARS (aircraft communications addressing and reporting system) digital datalink on aircraft.
  3. After refinement of the methodology, it will be used in a second safety risk assessment model to further test and improve it as needed. The model is to be determined later.

A focus on cyber risks

In short, the company will be developing a model to assess safety risks on aircraft systems to ensure they are “cyber secure.” Additionally, after testing the developed methodology, the FAA will apply it to aircraft systems to assess vulnerabilities and risks.

“There is a lot more effort going into cybersecurity, and research needs to be prepared to instigate actions that are getting taken. What we’re doing working with the FAA is to try and develop the methodology to come up with the right model to do an analysis of whether something is cyber secure or not.” — Astronautics president Chad Cundiff, as told to [link url=”http://www.ainonline.com/about-ain-publications” title=”Aviation International News (AIN)”].

Keep Reading
By

FAA Announces Drone Registration, But Further Regulations Still Needed

By

By Leischen Stelter
If you unwrap a drone this Christmas, before you take it out for its maiden flight you must first register the aircraft with the government. Starting on December 21, individuals who own a drone—more accurately called an unmanned aircraft system (UAS)—will be required to pay to register the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). While registering aircraft may be a first step towards regulating these devices, this doesn’t begin to address the issues of where and how drones can be operated, nor who’s going to enforce legal drone operation.

FAA Addresses Threats of Drones to the Nation’s Airspace

By

There are more than 100 sightings or close calls between aircraft and drones every month. Pilots of both planes and drones are lucky that, to date, there hasn’t been a midair collision. AMU faculty member Anthony Galante, who is also a trained airline pilot and the director of training for the Unmanned Safety Institute, discusses why drones make him nervous every time he flies. Read more about the government’s effort to regulate recreational drones and some of the specifics that still must be answered to keep the nation’s airspace safe.

FAA Releases Policies for Unmanned Aerial System Use in the National Airspace System

By

This January, a personal unmanned aerial system (UAS) crashed on to the White House lawn. While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) intended to bring forward new regulations for the public and commercial use of UAS in 2015, this incident seems to have accelerated the timetable. On February 15, the FAA released proposed rule changes. What are the key components of the new proposed regulations and how could it impact law enforcement agencies across the country?

Paris Terrorist Attacks: How Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Could Have Aided Police Response

By

The world has watched as horrific terrorist events have unfolded in Paris. These events, and the 17 deaths associated with them, forced law enforcement to take compromised positions against a formidable threat, which could have been reduced with the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Such UAS would provide command staff and officers with instantaneous actionable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information so resources are properly deployed in the safest manner possible.