Cyber Terrorism and Civil Aviation: Threats, Standards and Regulations

The cyber era represents new challenges to the aviation industry that might be even more harmful comparing to the conventional attacks. In order to handle the growing flow of passengers quickly, more and more processes at the airport will be done automatically. The more automated processes are being embedded the more potential for cyber attacks. <br><br>Considering the growing phenomena there is almost no legal discussion of what should be done by civil aviation regulators both local and international and by the private sector. Should, for example, there be a minimal cyber security standard for the short run or for the long run or should we leave it open as a demand of cyber security that is the "state of the art". <br><br>In part I we examine what are the risks inside the airport and on the flight itself. In part II we discuss the current legal response to cyber attacks in the civil aviation sector. In part III we argue that air transportation should not be viewed just as critical infrastructure but a unique one comparing to other critical infrastructure. In part IV we suggest our conclusions and recommendations to enact a convention or treaty that would cover all the aspects of tackling cyber attacks in civil aviation sector both in airports and in aircrafts. We recommend establishing a central and international authority that will handle cyber attacks in the civil aviation sector. Furthermore, we suggest to establish local authorities as well, that will be bind by the international authority, but will be able to give a quick response to cyber attack while reporting about the incident to the international body that will handle the situation globally if needed.