Toward Hazard-Threat Analysis Approach for Safe-Secure UAV Operations

Description

Modern Unmanned-Aerial Vehicles (UAV) can be utilized in multiple applications, including rescue, surveillance, traffic monitoring and scientific investigations. Today’s UAVs are composed of multiple sensors and processing units; their onboard systems are designed to be internet-based so that they can be controlled remotely. UAVs are subjected to safety regulations to guarantee safety while performing multiple tasks. In addition, the UAV system needs secure communication between the UAV and the Ground Control Station (GCS) to guarantee a secure operation and data of the UAV fleets. A Denial-of-Service attack (DoS) carried out against a drone while flying over a populated area may cause the drone to become uncontrollable and become a weapon that could be used against civilians. Furthermore, any vulnerable point in the UAV system leading to a successful cyber-attack could negatively impact UAV’s safety-critical units (i.e., Control units responsible for flying operations). UAVs’ safety and cybersecurity topics are a top priority for manufacturers and users. Accordingly, there are many ways to improve UAV cybersecurity and safety. However, investigating security and safety in UAV separately may lead to improper investigation outcomes, where a particular cyber threat propagation may affect any safety-critical units on a UAV’s board. Therefore, the dependable handling of safety and security concerns is necessary since it is essential to study the relationship between cyberattacks and their associated critical safety impact. This work introduces a hazard-threat analysis approach for safety-security issues investigation. The THREATGET tool is the most appropriate choice for applying this approach to the UAV domain since it offers a diverse selection of components that can be adapted to represent different examples of UAV systems. THREATGET performs a threat-hazards analysis to investigate cyber and safety incidents propagation among connected system components and communication channels and identify the violation of their safety-security measures. The tool supports identifying the safety/security issues in the earlier stages of the UAV system development, where it is essential to ensure the safety-security-by-design for future UAVs.

Period	16 Jan 2023 → 18 Jan 2023
Event title	HiPEAC: High Performance, Edge And Cloud computing: DroneSE: Drone Systems Engineering
Event type	Conference
Location	Toulouse, FranceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International