Vulnerability Assessment for Security in Aviation Cyber-Physical Systems

In this paper, we present a vulnerability assessment framework that could be used to assess and prevent cyber threats related to wired and wireless networks and computer systems. We have performed vulnerability assessment tests for aviation systems including data loaders and in order to meet aviation industry requirements for wireless network security. Our contributions include detecting cyber vulnerabilities in these aviation systems by using vulnerability assessment and penetration testing tools such as Metasploit Pro and BackTrack and improving security and safety of aircraft. Based on our test results of cyber vulnerabilities, the corresponding solutions will be developed to fix these vulnerabilities. New vulnerability assessment tests will be conducted again until our solutions are secure and safe to use. Some results of our vulnerability assessment tests against our software-hardware products are presented.