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ADS-B encryption: confidentiality in the friendly skies

Published: 08 January 2013 Publication History

Abstract

The US Federal Aviation Administration is proposing an upgrade to air transportation that will fundamentally overhaul the current, aging system. A key component, the automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) system, will enhance air traffic monitoring and control by requiring aircraft to continually broadcast position, identity and velocity via unencrypted data links to ground stations. Although ADS-B may enhance air traffic safety and support the increase in traffic demands, open broadcast of clear aircraft data points raise serious security concerns. The ability to encrypt ADS-B message transactions would afford protection to ensure that the confidentiality of aircraft data is not compromised. The implementation of an encryption framework for a large, distributed and dynamic system, however, is nontrivial. This paper examines encryption schemes and highlights challenges associated with implementing confidentiality security protections for the ADS-B environment.

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  • (2022)Cybersecurity Attacks on Software Logic and Error Handling Within ADS-B Implementations: Systematic Testing of Resilience and CountermeasuresIEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems10.1109/TAES.2021.313955958:4(2702-2719)Online publication date: Aug-2022
  • (2022)Complete ADS-B Security SolutionSecure Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Systems10.1007/978-3-031-07021-1_5(117-141)Online publication date: 24-Aug-2022
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Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences
CSIIRW '13: Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Research Workshop
January 2013
282 pages
ISBN:9781450316873
DOI:10.1145/2459976

Sponsors

  • Los Alamos National Labs: Los Alamos National Labs
  • Sandia National Labs: Sandia National Laboratories
  • DOE: Department of Energy
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Lawrence Livermore National Lab.: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • BERKELEYLAB: Lawrence National Berkeley Laboratory
  • Argonne Natl Lab: Argonne National Lab
  • Idaho National Lab.: Idaho National Laboratory
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Nevada National Security Site: Nevada National Security Site

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 08 January 2013

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Author Tags

  1. ADS-B
  2. encryption
  3. nextgen security

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  • Research-article

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CSIIRW '13
Sponsor:
  • Los Alamos National Labs
  • Sandia National Labs
  • DOE
  • Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
  • BERKELEYLAB
  • Argonne Natl Lab
  • Idaho National Lab.
  • Nevada National Security Site
CSIIRW '13: Cyber Security and Information Intelligence
January 8 - 10, 2013
Tennessee, Oak Ridge, USA

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Cited By

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  • (2025)An On-Orbit Data Marketplace for Distributed Space Domain AwarenessIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2025.354727113(40275-40284)Online publication date: 2025
  • (2022)Cybersecurity Attacks on Software Logic and Error Handling Within ADS-B Implementations: Systematic Testing of Resilience and CountermeasuresIEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems10.1109/TAES.2021.313955958:4(2702-2719)Online publication date: Aug-2022
  • (2022)Complete ADS-B Security SolutionSecure Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Systems10.1007/978-3-031-07021-1_5(117-141)Online publication date: 24-Aug-2022
  • (2021)Near-Real-Time IDS for the U.S. FAA’s NextGen ADS-BBig Data and Cognitive Computing10.3390/bdcc50200275:2(27)Online publication date: 16-Jun-2021
  • (2020)Securing the Air–Ground Link in AviationThe Security of Critical Infrastructures10.1007/978-3-030-41826-7_9(131-154)Online publication date: 6-May-2020
  • (2019)A Practical and Compatible Cryptographic Solution to ADS-B SecurityIEEE Internet of Things Journal10.1109/JIOT.2018.28826336:2(3322-3334)Online publication date: Apr-2019
  • (2018)A Framework for Aviation CybersecurityNAECON 2018 - IEEE National Aerospace and Electronics Conference10.1109/NAECON.2018.8556747(132-136)Online publication date: Jul-2018
  • (2018)Proactive Threat Detection for Connected Cars Using Recursive Bayesian EstimationIEEE Sensors Journal10.1109/JSEN.2017.278275118:12(4822-4831)Online publication date: 15-Jun-2018
  • (2018)Manipulating the Five V’s in the Next Generation Air Transportation SystemSecurity and Privacy in Communication Networks10.1007/978-3-319-78816-6_19(271-282)Online publication date: 25-Apr-2018
  • (2016)Cyber Threats to Position and Timing Data and Their Impact on Safety and SecurityNL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 201610.1007/978-94-6265-135-7_16(309-323)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2016

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