Handbook for Networked Local Area Networks in Aircraft

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Handbook for Networked Local Area Networks in Aircraft

E. Fleischman

This Handbook summarizes the results of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) networked local area network (LAN) study, which addresses potential safety impacts introduced by networking LANs onboard aircraft. Interconnecting previously isolated components on aircraft increases the complexity of unintended interactions between components and provides potential new access points that could be exploited to cause harm. This Handbook addresses the potential security vulnerabilities introduced by networking LANs, the safety affects of security failures, and a process for designing and certifying LANs on aircraft to ensure the safety of these new aircraft systems. This Handbook extends the current FAA safety assurance processes into airborne networked environments by leveraging the Biba Integrity Model. It builds upon existing FAA studies that articulate mechanisms to integrate RTCA/DO-178B and common criteria processes for the National Airspace System. This approach creates a safety-oriented airborne network architecture that is built upon DO-178B and ARP 4754 safety mechanisms. This Handbook discusses specific design and configuration issues upon which the civil aviation community will need to establish consistent consensus positions if the recommended architecture is to be seamlessly deployed into operational environments.