Security implications and authentication methods of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast in the national airspace system

With the growing popularity and variety of unmanned aircraft technologies and increasing number of aircraft present in the skies, the Federal Aviation Administration has followed the lead of the European Cascade program in implementing a new system of air traffic management in the United States. Mandating full compliance by all aircraft in busy airspace by 2020, the technology being implemented has many promising applications, including improved collision avoidance, more efficient travel patterns with reduced aircraft spacing, and reduced dependency on error-prone humans. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is a technology that relies on the continuous broadcast of satellite-derived location information from each aircraft. By considering the possible attack taxonomy of the national airspace system with respect to Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), methods of preventing such attacks can be formulated. Three primary communication channels have been identified for deployment of an authentication method. Each channel has unique characteristics that drastically alter the authentication scheme that can be applied. In this thesis, the proposed solutions can help mitigate the security issues identified with the ADS-B system