OSU will look into drone cybersecurity vulnerabilities

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration on Friday announced $4.4 million in drone research, education and training grants to seven universities, including Oregon State University. The research will focus on three areas: electromagnetic compatibility, detect and avoid classifications, and cybersecurity monitoring.

Universities that receive grants are University of North Dakota, University of Kansas, Drexel University, Ohio State University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Mississippi State and Oregon State University.

“This funding and our ongoing partnerships with these universities will enable the FAA to safely integrate the airspace that has a growing number of diverse aircraft users,” said Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen. .

Research initiatives and grant recipients include:

Assess electromagnetic compatibility of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
This research will assess risks, identify vulnerabilities in drone design, identify hardware and procedural mitigations, and provide guidance for safer electromagnetic compatibility with emitted and static fields.

• University of North Dakota $325,042
• University of Kansas $325,000
• Drexel University $325,830

Investigate Detect and Avoid Lead Classification and Filtering
This research will provide proposed metrics, guidance, and test methods to assess the effects of false or misleading information on detection and avoidance capabilities. The results will support operations beyond visual line of sight.

• Ohio State University $732,441
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University USD 371,000
• Mississippi State University USD 330,000
• University of North Dakota $80,000

Illustrate the need for cybersecurity monitoring and UAS risk management
This research will focus on UAS cybersecurity oversight and risk management as it relates to the National Airspace System and other FAA systems.

• University of Kansas $651,982
• Oregon State University $609,226
• Drexel University $608,783

OSU said its principal investigator is Rakesh Bobba from the College of Engineering, who will work with his OSU colleagues Houssam Abbas and Yeongjin Jang.

Rakesh described their project this way:

“The goal of the project is to uncover cybersecurity vulnerabilities in UAS (or drones) and illustrate the need for cybersecurity monitoring and risk management. Oregon will primarily lead the development of automated and semi-automated techniques for performing cyber-physical security analysis on drones, i.e. understanding security vulnerabilities at the intersection of computer hardware/software (cyber) and the functioning (physical or physical) of the drone.

Friday’s announcement is the second round of grants from the Alliance for UAS System Security through Research Excellence (ASSURE), bringing the total of 15 grants worth $18.3 million. dollars for fiscal year 2022. The ASSURE Center of Excellence is one of six the agency has established to advance technology and educate the next generation of aviation professionals. ASSURE’s research aims to help the drone market grow and integrate safely into the country’s airspace.

Over 800,000 recreational and commercial drones are part of the active drone fleet, and that number is expected to grow.