U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week urged the FAA to implement all recommended cybersecurity upgrades. Photo Courtesy of U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Kris Levasseur.
The senior senator from New York on Sunday urged the Federal Aviation Administration to immediately implement a series of expert- recommended cyber security upgrades to national airspace computer systems after a report released last week suggests significant security weaknesses within the FAA’s air traffic control systems.
In a letter addressed to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked the agency to “take swift and immediate action” to rectify the weaknesses exposed in the Government Accountability Office report, involving failure to secure its National Air Traffic Control System, failure to encrypt certain sensitive data, and failure to install important firewall protections and needed system upgrades in a timely manner.
The report and recommendations are of particular interest to borough residents as two of the nation’s busiest airports—John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia—are located in Queens.
“We all saw what happened at Sony: one can only imagine the immediate risk posed by a hacking of the FAA’s air traffic control and computer systems, in addition to the national security risk posed if foreign nationals or terrorists get their hands on the FAA’s sensitive and encrypted data,” Schumer said.
Schumer detailed four major issues highlighted in the GAO findings, including overall security weaknesses within the FAA’s computer systems; failure on the part of the FAA to fully implement its own Information Security Program; inadequate updates and inadequate testing of servers and software; and an inadequate agency-wide security risk management process.
The U.S. Air Traffic Control system includes 500 ATC towers, 160 Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities, and 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers that help guide over 228,000 aircraft operating within national airspace, including the 2,850 flights that are in the air at any given moment.
“Given the size of this system, and the vital role it plays in our nation’s security, it could be a target for cyber attack,” Schumer wrote, “and so the safeguards and security systems used to protect this system must be state-of-the-art and constantly updated with the latest technology.”
In addition to Sony, Schumer pointed to recent hacking incidents at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Home Depot as examples of private-sector cyber terror. And while Schumer told Huerta that he appreciates “the actions you have taken to date to address these issues,” he said he’s asking the FAA to implement all of the recommendations to “better protect our national airspace in the immediate future.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
