Astronautics Corporation of America has been awarded a phase one, cybersecurity research contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to identify and categorise all the data transmitted across three Cybersecurity Data Science (CSDS) Aviation Architecture Framework (AAF) domains to understand the broad scope of aviation-related data and the underlying architectures that support transmission and use of that data.

Under the 12-month contract, Astronautics’ avionics cybersecurity assurance group is identifying, categorising, and characterising the data and data collection capabilities associated with three CSDS AAF domains: airlines, airports, and aircraft.  The cataloged data will assist the FAA in developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to further enhance security against cyber attacks.

“As an industry leader in cybersecurity, we are pleased to once again partner with the FAA on research aimed at protecting the aviation ecosystem from cyber attacks,” said Matt Frei, Astronautics’ director of connected aircraft solutions.  “A critical step in making aviation more resilient is to understand the data and data pathways within different aviation networks, as this will enable and optimize the development of advanced AI/ML algorithms that will enhance our abilities to respond to and recover from advanced cyber threats.”

Astronautics has unique expertise in the collection, concentration, and dissemination of aerospace data.  For over 30 years the company has produced aircraft data management avionic systems for the world’s preeminent aircraft manufacturers.

From 2016 to 2021, Astronautics was on a multi-year contract with the FAA to establish methodologies that identify and categorize potential aircraft security risks to critical avionics systems; then identify and evaluate mitigation alternatives for these risks.  Working with industry colleagues, Astronautics also ran security risk assessments to determine methodology effectiveness and refine it as necessary.  The company also conducted advanced air-ground communications studies to identify weaknesses and propose mitigations.