Recently, the RCTA developed drafting guidelines for the security performance standards in the aviation industry. With the guidelines, the Federal Aviation Administration aimed to ensure that cybersecurity protections will be incorporated into routine activities and day-to-day operation from the air to the ground on manufacturers, carriers, maintenance facilities and airports. Cyber issues in aviation industry ware elevated to such a high priority for the first time. I think it is important that the FAA pay attention on the cyber security in aviation industry. It will be super dangerous if terrorists hacked into a flying plane or airport control tower. From the articles I found through the past 5 weeks, I realized that cyber security is not only about confidential information to business to privacy to individuals, it also relates to our safety.
Article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/faa-advisory-body-recommends-cybersecurity-measures-1474587049
Rarely do we talk about cyber security in terms of our actual safety, its usually more about our privacy. However, with the advent of electric cars, drones, and any other electrical device that can harm a person, I think a lot of people will start to take cyber security more seriously. It is good to see the aviation industry being pro-active to combat the potential threats to planes by cyber attacks. We should continue to look for ways airplanes are vulnerable and have action plans against it.
Due to the high risk involved and the importance of technology in the aviation industry I’m actually surprised that these measures haven’t already been taken. That being said I’m definitely glad that the aviation industry is aware of the significant impact cyber-related issues could have and are taken the necessary steps to help mitigate these incidents proactively with drafting guides and performance standards.
Mengqi, a great article, and like Ahmed said, we often think about cyber security in terms of keeping our data safe. This sheds a great light on the fact that our lives are so engulfed with technology, that many moments of our day are at risk! It’s so very scary to think of what people with ill intent could do. We choose to let technology into our life to make it easier, but that comes with a price. That ease can be turned against us!