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electronic networks and systems,” EASA said. increasing the risk of cyber breaches, the Trump administration
“These threats have the potential to disrupt has asked agencies to step up their efforts to defend the aviation
or destroy electronic information. All recently industry against emerging threats like cyberattacks and drones.
designed large airplanes are known to be According to the administration, agencies have seen enemies take
potentially sensitive to those security threats an increasing interest in “the systems and networks associated with
due to the interconnectivity of their avionics the aviation ecosystem,” “Technologies that generate economic
systems.” EASA plans to introduce cyberse- and social benefits also may be used to challenge the safety and
curity provisions into the relevant certification security of the aviation ecosystem,” White House officials said in
specifications of small and large aircraft. The February, as the administration unveiled its National Strategy for
amendment is also expected to improve harmo- Aviation Security.
nization with FAA regulations. Cybersecurity is
currently addressed as part of the certification The strategy is a sign of the changed times and an increasingly
activities of new large airplane type designs connected world. The previous country national aviation security
and STCs in the form of special conditions to strategy, which was unveiled in 2007, centered on combating terror-
EASA CS-25. ism and physical threats posed by criminals and foreign adversaries
to the aviation industry. The new strategy says that “The use of
“We need to be prepared for the threat of disruptive technologies, such as cyber connectivity and unmanned
cyber-attacks in aviation; it is not a matter of if aircraft, in reckless or malicious ways, along with the constant
it will happen but when it will happen,” says Luc evolution of terrorist threats to manned aviation, requires a fresh,
Tytgat, EASA Strategy and Safety Management whole-of-community approach.”
Director. The proposed introduction of stricter
standards is the latest in the series of mea- Joining Hands for Common Good
sures that EASA has taken since it developed In 2017, Airbus and SITA launched their CyberSecurity Aviation
a Cybersecurity Roadmap in November 2015. Security Operations Center, to provides airlines, airports and other
Among its initiatives include the European air transport industry stakeholders with information about unusual
Centre for Cybersecurity in Aviation (ECCSA) cyber activity that may impact their businesses. SITA CyberSecurity
that aims to increase collaboration and infor- addresses the continuing emergence and escalation of cyberse-
mation sharing among aviation stakeholders. curity threats to the aviation industry.
The ECCSA provides to its members secure
means to exchange domain relevant cyberse- In Israel, technology companies have come together to address avi-
curity information, such as vulnerabilities and ation cybersecurity issues. In November last year, they announced
cybersecurity events. a new cyber consortium aimed at providing offer comprehensive,
end-to-end, cyber security solutions for the commercial aviation
Growing Concern industry. The consortium includes, among others, companies such
With aircraft and airports dependent more as Israel Aerospace Industries, CyberArk, Check Point, Cockpit
than ever on interconnected devices, thereby Innovation, Karamba Security and ClearSky.

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