The cybersecurity aspect of remote tower optical systems

Abstract

In the aviation domain, the past decade has seen the rise of emergent and often disruptive technologies, including automation, digital transformation, and data analytics. The solutions derived from these technologies, like unmanned aircraft or remote tower operations, on one hand were created in order to generate some sort of a benefit, but on the other hand they led us to a previously uncharted territory, called cybersecurity vulnerabilities. If these vulnerabilities are exploited, they may lead to a massive damage to the Aviation Ecosystem that can contribute to catastrophic failures. With this in mind, protection to the remote tower optical systems is of paramount importance. Therefore, this study focuses on providing a framework for cybersecurity assessments of remote tower optical systems.