In today’s
world, technology is developing faster than businesses could have expected.
Having the “latest” and “greatest” is a norm and because of that it seems
everyone has their own “smart” device. Today we have the opportunity to do even
more on these devices. For example, we can email, pay our bills, locate a
restaurant, Google search, or BING, and connect with people halfway across the
world all in the comfort of our PJ’s sipping on coffee while reading the
morning paper (on a tablet) at the kitchen table. It only makes sense that the BYOD
(Bring Your Own Device) trend is becoming commonplace in the work environment. The
technology is already there so why not use it to your company’s advantage?
In order to
keep up with competitors you have to keep up with technology, and the aviation
field is no different. Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) are being utilized more
and more these days by pilots in order to achieve a “paperless” cockpit. A
pilot’s flight bag holds a variety of papers for flight management, e.g.,
operating manuals, navigational charts and much more. So it’s no surprise that
technology would make the pilot’s job easier and more efficient, and the ROI of
tablet EFB adoption will accelerate exponentially when/if an airline converges
airworthy systems and sensors with corporate enterprise systems via inexpensive
COTS table technologies. This is where EFBs in the form of tablets are
introduced. Pilots now have every possible piece of information they need stored
on a personal tablet and no longer do they need to lug around a bulky flight
bag. Everything the pilots need to know or check is at their fingertips or is
just a swipe away.
However,
like any technology, these magical devices can be applied properly or improperly,
and when operational safety is on the line ensuring the proper application is a
moral imperative. Security and safety is the number one challenge concerning
the BYOD trend, especially in the aviation field. Since airlines don’t directly
control the personal devices used by pilots and passengers, many problems can
occur involving personal electronic devices (PEDs). For example, pilots could
be using their personal tablet for an EFB. However, if this tablet hasn’t been
Rapid Decompression (RD) or EMI tested it could be a safety risk for the pilot
and the entire aircraft as well. Or if a rogue passenger wanted to passively or
actively attack aircraft subsystems they could do so by hacking the low
security computer systems within the tablet! Potentially, they could be as
harmless as eavesdropping secure data or as dangerous as message jamming and data
changing. Theory suggests actively crashing a plane is possible by hacking into
avionic data buses. Hugo Teso, a security consultant from “n.runs” in Germany recently presented Aircraft Hacking: Practical Aero Series at a security conference in
Amsterdam. In his presentation he was actually able to hack a Boeing Jet while
it was in “autopilot” and was able to change the course of the flight. The only
reaction a pilot could take, if he knew the airplane was hacked at all, was to
take it out of “autopilot”. Teso simply used his Samsung Galaxy and a specifically
created app called PlaneSploit to accomplish this and other hacks. While not a
real-world event, this demonstration underscores the risks and reasons for
solid mitigation strategies when deploying tablet EFB devices.
So as
technology broadens the capabilities of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices
being used in the aviation field either by pilots or passengers, it also adds
some security and safety challenges along the way as well. The BYOD trend is
not likely to fade from the work environment because it’s just too cost
effective to avoid for some. In fact, the trend will probably grow as personal
electronic devices become more enterprise friendly. Here are a few suggestions
our editors, software engineers and consultant DERs within the industry agree
are necessary to lessen any real or perceived adverse consequences, while
maximizing deployment efficacy and ROI of and COTS tablet EFBs.1. Ensure the host operating system of the COTS device take full advantage of hardware and software encryption.
2. Maximize the use of “closed system” architectures when selecting COTS tablet EFB platforms.
3. Avoid the implementation of any GNU or other open source software and DataCom standards like 802.11 (Wi-Fi) or Bluetooth.
4. Ensure all newly introduced installed equipment is adequately rated for the system architecture. (This includes software design assurance levels and TSO ratings which are consistent with existing systems and sensors.)
5. Keep It Simple and Smart (K.I.S.S.) and don’t try to reinvent the airframe. Allow existing aircraft data concentrators and aggregators to “serve” data to the EFB system with minimal encoding and data merging.
These are
just a few key points the team at ASIG suggest in order to keep airline pilots,
flight crews and passengers safe and secure.
Until
next time, stay 5x5, mission ready, and Wired!
