The National Cyber Directorate recently launched the Hercules project for dealing with cyber threats to aviation. The project began in late September, and will continue for 14 months. Cyber risks for airports, control towers, airspace control, airlines, and airplane repair and maintenance will be outlined. The relevant cyber risks will be rated, and recommendations will be given for coping with them in the short and long term.
The project will be led by the Defense and Consulting division of Matrix IT Ltd. (TASE:MTRX), which recently won a tender to manage it. It will be headed by a senior aviation industry figure, with participation from a former combat pilot, a cyber expert with a defense background, and an avionics systems engineer. Israeli and international companies selected by Matrix Defense and approved by the Cyber Directorate are also partners in the project.
The Cyber Directorate emphasized that its handling of the aviation sector included all of its aspects, not merely protection of aircraft. "As in many other spheres, cyber attacks in aviation are currently taking place on websites and databases of airlines in an attempt to obtain customers' data, in additional to financially-motivated ransomware attacks," the Cyber Directorate's announcement of the project's launch stated. The aviation sector is also preparing to address far more serious threats. The main concern is that cyber attacks will try to paralyze airports or sabotage control tower systems.
The Cyber Authority also expects the Hercules project to serve as a basis for influencing the international standard in the industry, and that "Insights from the project will be applied in other countries and at international aviation agencies, and will later be used to set international standards for cyber protection of airliners and airports."
Cyber Directorate research and development manager Eynav Haim-Sayag says, "Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are starting to install cyber protection on their systems, and we see a business opportunity for developing innovation in this area. The state has its own interest in advance preparation in the industry in order to prevent loss of life in a future cyber attack, and in order to maintain uninterrupted service in civil aviation."
The project is part of the Cyber Directorate's efforts in cyber defense for aviation in the past two years. A national steering committee is already in operation, with participation from the Ministry of Transport, the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), and the National Security Council and other defense agencies. A security operation center (SOC) was also previously established for cyber threats in the Israel Aviation Authority. This was not an unusual step - other critical infrastructure agencies also operate such SOCs, and one was set up in September this year at Israel Railways.
The Cyber Directorate's authority over the IAA and the airlines derives from Cabinet Resolutions 2443 and 2444, under which the Cyber Directorate operates as an agency. The Ministry of Justice has been promoting cyber legislation for the past two years to regularize the Cyber Directorate's activity. A draft bill was published 18 months ago, but its preparation by the Ministry of Justice is being delayed, among other things by the delay in forming a government.
The Cyber Directorate's handling of transportation is due to expand in the next two years with the founding of a new transportation sector center, in addition to the existing centers for dealing with cyber threats in communications and environmental protection.
These sector centers will operate in the framework of Israel's Computer Emergency Response Team (IL-CERT) - a 24/7 war room staffed by analysts who are veterans of IDF technology units and university graduates. This center will be used to oversee the entire economy, from the general public to organizations, in order to share and receive information about suspected cyber attacks and the need to provide an initial response.
The three new centers will be in addition to the existing centers in the financial, energy, internal security, and government sectors.
As part of the new transportation cyber center, special attention is planned for aviation. The Cyber Directorate says, "Within the new SOC to be established for transportation, the Cyber Directorate will establish an 'aviation cell,' to which reports of suspected cyber events will be channeled. The center will help handle specific aviation events, share insights with airlines, and synchronize with other agencies and international bodies."
The Cyber Directorate is also considering the establishment of a "cyber laboratory for aviation" and a "training development plan for holding drills and raising awareness among pilots of how to act in a cyber event, and of detection and analysis of events."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 11, 2019
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