Grant: Alliance Grants

Modern aircraft are complex systems of systems integrated not only at the mechanical level but also at the electronic and network levels. The many systems on which an aircraft relies communicate with each other and/or with external entities to carry out various vital functions. These systems are increasingly controlled by advanced onboard electronics and integrated through various communication and networking technologies. Any disruption to these systems or communications (violation of integrity, confidentiality, or availability) can have a considerable socio-economic impact given the crucial importance of air transportation infrastructure. Manufacturers of aircraft and contemporary critical systems, such as avionics, are faced with important cybersecurity challenges: increasingly complex systems certification and defense against a new generation of sophisticated and advanced attacks of the future. Meeting these challenges will require innovative design and validation approaches based on new tools and platforms such as test rigs including flight simulators, prototyping boards and virtual models for the different avionic sub-systems. CyberVTRA brings together three universities and five industrial partners aiming to develop: - A novel modular avionic Test Rig, composed of simulators, emulators, and prototypes; - A set of cyber-security solutions, as well as development guidelines for future avionics systems, and; - A framework enabling certification for avionics using the proposed modular avionic Test Rig. The proposed solutions will provide an adaptable testing environment to assess new hardware and software; a training asset for industrial personnel responsible for monitoring the aircraft network traffic and security logs, and those responsible for performing scanning and penetration testing of the aircraft systems; as well as needed guidance and support for Canadian and Quebec regulators and legislators. The project will train highly qualified personnel with expertise in validation, verification, certification and cybersecurity for avionics.