b'90 INDUSTRY INSIDERCyberattacks on the Aviation Sector:Threats, Trends and StrategiesThe aviation industry has beenwide open for bad actors to exploit. So, a prime target for nefariouswhile cost pressures are continuing toChase Richardson cyberattacks over the last fewrise, outsourcing key updates to expertsleads U.S. Operations years. Mere months ago, Los Angelescan help keep bad actors at bay. Forat Bridewell, a global cybersecurity consulting International Airport (LAX) suffered a datathe aviation sector, however, its not justfirm. Prior to joining breach to one of its customer relationshipexternal threats they need to be keeping aBridewell, Richardson management systems. Information exposedclose eye on. was a founding member of a Houston reportedly included company names,firm specializing in cybersecurity aircraft tail numbers, 1.9 million emails andThreats from All Sides risk, governance and compliance; more, but did not include passenger namesBridewells research found that more thanoffensive penetration testing; security or traveler data.one-third (35%) of decision-makers in criticaloperations and data privacy. He has an infrastructure believe that the economicMBA from Emory University and is a Last November, a cyberattack tookCertified Information Systems Security down the public website of Long Beachdownturn is causing more internal employeesProfessional and Certified Information Airport (LGB) in an attempt to causeto turn to cyber crime. Whether driven byPrivacy Professional. chaos for customers. Internet-basedemployee negligence or criminal intent, systems utilized by airlines and air trafficorganizations need to invest in strengthening controllers were unaffected, but the resulttheir cyber defenses from the inside out,reducing the number of suppliers they could have been a lot worse.carrying out continuous vulnerabilitywork with. assessments to deliver a detailed picture ofTheyre also taking a similar approach And bad memories still loom fromthe potential attack surface. For example, the coordinated attacks in 2022 thatto tech stacks, the collections of Red Teamingwhen trusted internal ortechnology tools used to run their crashed the public-facing websites ofhired personnel try to breach a systemis more than a dozen airports across thesoftware and systems. Solutions are now a great way of simulating a range of attackbeing consolidated, which is helping U.S. In that case, the pro-Russia hackertypes to test defense capabilities and identify group Killnet claimed responsibility. Again,to further reduce the potential attack vulnerabilities. surface.flight operations were not affected, but a collective sense of vulnerability permeatedOf the many external threats out there, the entire industry. ransomware is the most feared type ofFuture of the Sectorattack in the aviation industry. To putAs economic pressures intensify, the At the Global Connected Aircraftinto context how damaging it can be,temptation to cut cybersecurity costs can Summit last fall, I discussed some ofransomware has the potential to lockleave aviation organizations vulnerable the top cyber trends were seeing inup an airports day-to-day operations.to devastating attacks like ransomware. the aviation sector, what organizationsEmails cant be accessed, and cloudAnd as recent and continued breaches should be considering, and some of theapplications can become inaccessible.demonstrate, the airport sector remains a strategies they can deploy to safeguardWhen we surveyed aviation organizationsprime target. critical data. and others in critical infrastructure, we Maintaining strong defenses through discovered a total of 26 ransomware Beware of the Cost Cut incidents over the course of the last 12continuous assessments, undertaking In the U.S., financial uncertainties, theRed Teaming exercises and addressing monthsapproximately one every otherinternal risks are crucial to keeping regional banking crisis and the ever- week. We often find, however, that these rising debt ceiling have spilled over intoyour airport safe. On a positive note, numbers are underreported, becausethe industry is taking steps to reduce numerous industries. The aviation sector,organizations dont want to admit when among others, has looked to cut costsits attack surface by consolidating tech theyve been victims of a breach. stacks and vendor relationships. The next amid the associated economic strain. But trimmed investment in cybersecuritystep is to allocate resources wisely and Reducing Possible Targets take proactive steps toward strengthening can often lead to gaping holes in cyberAviation entities often work with numerous defenses. Critical projects or upgradesand maturing your cybersecurity posture, vendors and suppliers for materialleveraging internal and external expertise such as system assessments or audits aresourcing, and every new relationship often pushed back indefinitely. to achieve end-to-end visibility across creates risk. But it becomes costly anddiverse environments.It could be something as seeminglytime-consuming to complete a cyber risk small as a set of security patches put onassessment on every vendor. As a result, hold that leaves a well-known vulnerabilityweve witnessed more organizations May | June 2024AirportImprovement.com'