On Air, Issue 18: Partnership in cybersecurity - Editorial

A matter of urgency
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Patrick Ky, EASA Executive Director

All aviation actors now agree that it is urgent to collaborate on cybersecurity.  At the High Level Conference on Cybersecurity in Civil Aviation which we organized in Krakow (Poland) last month with the Polish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Polish Civil Aviation Authority, the participants coming from airlines, ground handlers, aircraft manufacturers, equipment suppliers and authorities declared a significant increase in the number of cyber-attacks and threats on the aviation system and the need to increase partnership. 

One of the key elements for a more effective approach to cybersecurity threats is to stop thinking safety on one hand and security on the other as both are more and more interlinked. Cybersecurity should become the pioneer in exchanging information on the risks perceived from the ground to the aircraft. This should create a new level of risk assessment compatible at all level and enable information sharing by all actors in civil aviation.

We have started to work on a European Strategic Coordination Platform together with key Industry stakeholders, EU Member States and Institutions to facilitate the collaboration at institutional level. We have also set up the European Centre for Cyber Security in Aviation in order to provide information and assistance to EU aviation stakeholders to protect the critical assets of civil aviation. With the evolution of EASA’s basic regulation, our vision is that cybersecurity will be fully integrated in the remit of the Agency which will be set-up to drive the EU aviation system to become more resilient to cyber threats.

Patrick Ky

EASA Executive Director