Overview
Despite the completion of airport control and security measures, there is still the possibility that hostile persons may manage to pass through these and access an aircraft, and even initiate hostile actions. There is therefore a need to secure the aircraft itself as the last barrier to attacks.
SAFEE was a large integrated project (IP) designed to restore full confidence in the security of the air transport industry. The overall vision for SAFEE was the construction of advanced aircraft security systems designed to prevent onboard threats. The main goal of these systems is to ensure a fully secure flight from departure to arrival destination whatever the identified threats are.
The project focused on the implementation of onboard threat detection systems and the provision of reliable threat information to the flight crew.
In the decision-making and response management process, secured air/ground exchange of threat level information was foreseen. SAFEE also anticipated the future use of the European Regional Renegade Information Dissemination System (ERRIDS) by all organisations involved in response to acts of unlawful interference on-board aircraft.
One of the short term goals of SAFEE was to influence security bodies at national level, at European and worldwide levels.
To reach these objectives SAFEE had five key activities (Sub-Projects):
- Onboard Threat Detection System (OTDS): an integrated threat detection system based on processing of multiple sensor information is being specified, prototyped and evaluated;
- Threat Assessment and Response Management System (TARMS): an integrated information management system and decision support tool;
- Flight reconfiguration: includes an Emergency Avoidance System (EAS) and a study of an automatic guidance system to control the aircraft for a safe return;
- Data Protection System (DPS) securing all the data exchanges (in and out of the aircraft);
- Security evaluation activities, including legal and regulatory issues threat assessment, operational concept development, validation approach, economic analysis, and training.
The proponents are major European industrial actors of the Aeronautical sector associated with a high level research centre, several relevant SMEs and some specialised universities. A certain degree of confidentiality on proposed sensors and technologies will, for obvious reasons, be imposed on the results obtained.
Funding
Results
- Data Security
1.1 Electromagnetic Attack & Back - Up link
SAFEE had increased the knowledge of antennas response when they are working in strong electromagnetic fields environments.
The theoretical results for Anti-Threat Data Link System, relevant to the anti-jam techniques, have been applied to the VHF/UHF transceiver to realize a radio system that fulfils the SAFEE requirements.
1.2 Voice Communication Authentication System - VCAS
The main conclusions of these works are:- Technical viability of the system was demonstrated, which shows also the stand-alone property of the system that doesn't have any impact on Airborne and ground communication architecture.
- The pilots like the idea behind the VCAS. They see the voice communication authentication information as valuable and useful information.
1.3 Open World - Biometric Database
The developed systems on the mock-up are useful and enough reactive.- The protection of OW application is mandatory.
- Users think that biometrics-based OW authentication is more secure and easy to use than classical pin-code procedures.
- Legal Study
An analysis identified at first step three new main topics which required special legal attention:
- The Apparent breach of human rights, by heavily monitoring and recording/saving passengers various activities during check in process and especially on board the aircraft. The due balance should be analyzed.
- Such supervision, while monitoring and putting on record wide range of personal details and real time behaviour, could easily give evidential ground for proving some unlawful acts which are not related to security. Questions of privileges and immunities should be discussed.
- EAS -Emergency Avoidance System could in some situations take over full control of the aircraft while totally neutralizing the pilot in command. Significant questions of responsibilities and liabilities are raised.
Current security regulatory norms do not provide adequate solutions for the above mentioned legal conflicts.
- Threat Assessment
Direct assessment of the SAFEE systems proved to be challenging due to unavailability of system performance data at the time of the assessment. An alternative approach was introduced to assess