Secure Network-enabled Commercial Airplane Operations: It Support Infrastructure Challenges

The next-generation commercial airplane models have networking facilities that enable onboard systems to communicate between themselves as well as with offboard systems. This new feature allows network applications to realize many benefits for airplane manufacturing, operations and maintenance processes. However, at the same time vulnerabilities are introduced that can threaten the onboard systems. Regulatory bodies such as the EASA and FAA recognize that the unprecedented network-enabled airplane model may impact long-established safety regulations and guidance. In this paper, we focus on securing a specific network application, i.e. the electronic distribution of airplane loadable software. The use of data networks provides opportunities for corruption of safety-critical and businesscritical airplane software. The paper presents a security framework that we have proposed for identifying threats to the airplane software distribution, and mitigating them. Additionally, challenges to securing the distribution, and open problems in the security of network-enabled airplanes are discussed.