Cybersecurity-Related Challenges in Canadian and US Aviation Sectors
General Objective:
“This project is to provide Department of National Defence (DND)/Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) with a detailed cybersecurity framework focused on cybersecurity risks, threat preparedness, and specific steps to improve the security of connected transportation-related technologies for the defence aerospace ecosystem.”
Guiding Questions:
1. “How can DND/CAF deepen its partnership with the US for common defence priorities (cybersecurity, defence industry, disaster response, supply chain security, etc.)?”
2. “How should DND/CAF approach the increasing blending of operational domains?”
Mission Statement:
This project will compare how Canada and the US aviation sectors are responding to emerging cyber threats. This study will provide an assessment of the current Canadian policies and recommendations to improve responses to the security risks faced by the aviation sector. This task will be accomplished through: extensive policy analysis, literature review, scoping the threats, and mapping the intersecting cybersecurity and aviation ecosystems.
Goals:
• Identify the major cybersecurity-related challenges in the aviation section,
• Identify the technologies and associated capabilities associated with the cybersecurity-related challenges,
• Identify the Canadian and US actors involved in these challenge areas including their role in creating solutions,
• Flag and identify possible policy solutions to challenge areas.
Below is what you are to do;
PART 1: Consult videos, summaries from tech companies, academic papers, etc.
• Write 1-pager: identifying associated technologies and analyzing/summarizing how they work. For example, what specific technologies are involved in aviation Internet of Things (IoT)? Autonomous and remote vehicles?
• Write 1-pager: explaining the associated cybersecurity issues/ threats from a defence/ security perspective. (This threat assessment and cybersecurity issues should be associated with the technologies identified in the first page)
Consult videos, summaries from tech companies, etc. This is a Defence and security-focused project. It is not National Security. Terrorism is not and never been a part of any description of this project. In addition, sources dating from 2019 are not cutting edge. National policies and strategies may date to that time, but when it comes to providing an assessment and summary of the current technological landscape, it is careless to leverage out of date information.
Since these are short summary analysis, there could be no or Limited in-text citation. Just list the references at the end of this section.
You may look into the following sources (some might not be useful) in addition to yours;
1) https://www(dot)atlanticcouncil(dot)org/commentary/article/protecting-the-new-frontier-seven-perspectives-on-aerospace-cybersecurity/
2) https://www(dot)atlanticcouncil(dot)org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Flying-computer.pdf
PART 2: Canada (CA) Mapping:
a) Create a list in Excel of all companies in Canada (including SMEs) involved in aviation sector within Canada.
• Please include: name, company size, location (city, province), subsector (technology, manufacturing, engineering, cybersecurity, etc.), Government of Canada (GC) contract (if known), partnerships, notable recent projects, Canada or international company (if international, name country). Example, Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney Canada, etc.
• Don’t spend too much on this section—I just need to know who the major players are and what they do.
b) Create a list in Excel of all federal departments involved in aviation and in cybersecurity in Canada and that have a mandate that relates to standards, regulations, defence, oversight, etc.
• Please include: name, acronym, mandate, associated partnerships and projects.
• Please make sure to include: Aerospace Space and Defence in Canada (ISED), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), Department of National Defence (DND)
c) Create a list in Excel of all Government of Canada (GC) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) programs relating to cybersecurity & aviation in Canada.
• Please include: title, affiliated companies/ universities/ GC departments, etc., date range, budget $, brief description of agenda/ mission, link to website/ list of key associated documents.
• Add: cyber-focused? Yes/No, comments
• Add: security-focused? Yes/No, comments
NOTE: I have attached a template for the Excel part of this work. It is only a template so you might edit the headings to fit the descriptions given above here.
EXPLORING CYBERSECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE CANADIAN AVIATION ECOSYSTEM AND DEEPENING COOPERATION IN CONNECTED TECHNOLOGIES
Name
Affiliation
Course Code
Due Date
Part 1: Introduction
The aviation industry is always innovating to enhance operational efficiency, safety and overall customer experience. This has compelled the industry to invest in technology to meet these goals. One of the areas that the industry has invested is in collecting any measurable metric and analyzing the data to gain a competitive advantage. As the world moves towards IoT (Internet of Things), the industry has continually been incorporating smart technology. While this technology is generating enormous data, it is deemed necessary to have many sensors that collect and transmit data on various parameters of performance and flight. The data is used to tweak new designs and make informed decisions on how to fly more efficiently, comfortably and safely. Real time data analytics has become integral to the industry which generates vast amount of data to identify patterns detect anomalies and produce predictive insights. Stakeholders in this industry have developed artificial intelligent tools to improve their models and procedures.
The vast amounts of data generated in the industry need a matching technology to store and process the information. The industry has embraced cloud computing which serves as the backbone of the industry to facilitate scalable and secure storage and processing capabilities of the vast amounts of data. Most industry players have embraced the advantages of this technology which primarily allows real time access to data, information and processing capabilities from anywhere. The centralized data and information management allows stakeholders to have a holistic view of their operations to make data driven decisions. The industry is also embracing newer technologies such as 5G connectivity, edge computing, blockchain and any other new tech which has the potential to revolutionize the industry. Each player in the industry is looking for the best way to leverage on new technologies to gain a competitive advantage.
Part 2: How do these technologies pose a threat to cybersecurity?
While the afore-described technologies have the potential to revolutionize the industry in the decades to come, they are always bundled with an imminent threat pertinent to all technological innovations, cyb...