Cybersecurity Threats

 


Cybersecurity is an ever-increasing threat in aviation as new technologies are incorporated to ease the screening and boarding process, provide network availability for passengers, and keep track of all necessary data. Bert Willemsen and Menno Cadee (2018) share in their article about several cybersecurity instances that have happened at airports. There were massive delays at a Turkish airport in 2013, because hackers gained access to the passport control system (Willemsen & Cadee, 2018). Then in 2017, several airports of major US cities experienced computer malfunctions, resulting in long delays for passengers at customs (Willemsen & Cadee, 2018). Sometimes cyber attacks are relatively harmless, only causing delays. However, cyber attacks can also cause much damage and harm to airport operations and passengers. Cybersecurity attacks can leak the sensitive information of passengers, cause a mix-up with flight information, cause interference with the airfield lights, etc. Nowadays, technology plays a part in every step of air travel. 

On the TSA blog, there are 20 layers of aviation security listed (TSA, 2017). The majority of these layers help to protect everyone from physical threats. The most important one to protect against cybersecurity threats is intelligence. This first step gathers passenger information and it is important for airline and airport cyber networks to protect the information from outside interference. I'm sure there are other layers that play a part in cybersecurity, too, but intelligence is the most obvious one to me. Intelligence can protect against cyber attacks by filtering visitors to the site who are seeking travel information or wanting to buy tickets from visitors who may be trying to access sensitive parts of the system. 

This blog gives an overview of only a tiny portion of the cybersecurity threats that airports face. The TSA is proactive in the fight against cyber attacks. One way they stay ahead of problems is by having a Cybersecurity Roadmap (TSA, 2018). This roadmap lays out a clear plan of priorities and goals; they aim to deal with problems quickly and build systems that can defend against cyber attacks (TSA, 2018). One recommendation I have is for the TSA cybersecurity team to bring on team members who have hacking skills. They may already do this because it does take a talented team to do this work, but if they don't, then they would benefit by having someone on the team that stays up to date with hacking trends. 

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References

Transportation Security Administration. (2017, August 1). Inside look: TSA layers of security. Retrieved from https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2017/08/01/inside-look-tsa-layers-security

Transportation Security Administration. (2018). TSA cybersecurity roadmap 2018. Retrieved from https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/tsa_cybersecurity_roadmap_adm_approved.pdf

Willemsen, B., & Cadee, M. (2018). Extending the airport boundary: Connecting physical security and cybersecurity. Journal of Airport Management, 12(3), 236–247. 

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