New realities in aviation security remotely gaining control of aircraft systems

1. Transport Security

2. AIR TRANSPORT
●
2.8 billion
– People flown in 2011.
●
38 million
– Number of flights in 2011
MARITIME TRANSPORT
●
30,936
– Transport ships in 2011
●
8,7 billion tons
– Seaborne trade on 2012

3. Safety is NOT Security

4. New technologies, new threats...
...new requirements:
●
IT Security profile
– New systems
– Automation
●
Aviation profile
– Specific knowledge
– Own technologies
– Standards

5. Part I
– Traditional technologies
Part II
– New risks and attack vectors
Agenda

6. Traditional
technologies
Good old days

7. Older technologies
Primary Surveillance
Radars (PSR)
✈ Detects presence of
planes via the reflection of
radio waves by the planes.
Secondary Surveillance
Radars (SSR)
✈ Detects and measures the
position of aircrafts, requests
additional information from
them.

8. Legacy systems Glass cockpit
Older technologies

9. New
technologies
Risks and attacks

10. Attack overview
DISCOVERY
✈ ADS-B
GATHERING
✈ ACARS
EXPLOITATION
✈ Systems

11. THE TARGET
SOFTWARE

12. DISCOVERY - ADS-B
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast
✈ Radar substitute
✈ Position, velocity, identification

13. GATHERING - ACARS
Aircraft Communications Addressing and
Reporting System
✈ Digital data link for transmission of messages
between aircraft and ground stations

14. EXPLOITATION - FMS
✈Flight Management System
– Typically consists of two units:
» A computer unit
» A control display unit
✈Control Display Unit (CDU or
MCDU) provides the primary
human/machine interface for data
entry and information display.
✈FMS provides:
» Navigation
» Flight planning
» Trajectory prediction
» Performance computations
» Guidance

15. EXPLOITATION - Attack delivery
Ground Service providers
●
The “glue” of the aviation
ecosystem
house
Software Defined Radio
●
A radio communication
system where hardware
components are
implemented by means
of software.

16. Unmanned Aircraft Systems
COMMUNICATIONS
– SATCOM
●
Iridium
●
Ku-Band
●
C/S-Band
– VHF
●
:-)
NON-SEGREGATED
AIRSPACE
●
Civil aviation systems
– COTS/MOTS
– Vulnerable:
●
Protocols
●
Systems

17. Remediation
Where to start from?
– ✈ NextGen Security
●
On-board systems security
audit
– ✈ Who is affected?
●
Manufacturers
●
Ground Service Providers
●
Airlines/Operators

18. Remember: Safety is NOT Security
hugo.teso@nruns.com
Additional resources
– RootedCon 2012
●
Slides: http://x90.es/7e4
●
Video: http://x90.es/7e5
– HITB 2013
●
Slides: http://x90.es/7e6
●
Video: http://x90.es/7e7