Critical infrastructures such as airports are in principle protected against individual physical or cyber threats - but not against complex attacks that combine both categories.

In the SATIE project (Security of Air Transport Infrastructures of Europe), led by the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance and funded by the European Commission under the H2020 programme, an interoperable toolkit (SATIE Toolkit) was developed with the potential to be the first operationally applied Security Management System (SecMS) at airports. Its holistic concept, adaptability and modular set up allows the SATIE Solution to also be applied at other Critical Infrastructures.

With this shared situational awareness, airport security and airport management can work together more efficiently in crisis management. Emergency procedures can be initiated simultaneously via a common alert system to plan air- and land-side countermeasures, notify first responders, cybersecurity and maintenance teams, and enable rapid recovery to return to a safe situation. The technologies were demonstrated in realistic use cases at three European airports (Zagreb, Athens and Milan Malpensa) - partners in the project - and validated by matter experts. "Attackers" carried out combined cyber-physical attacks on digital twins of airport control systems live and on site. The operators involved at the airport side should recognize and fend off these attacks during the demonstration.

Five different scenarios were conducted to realistically test the tools of the SATIE Toolkit. Each scenario provides a step-by-step description of how a specific, complex attack on an airport would likely unfold. Attacks on important airport components such as passport and passenger controls, the passenger information system, the access control system, the airport announcement system and the baggage handling system were simulated and repelled.

More resources at: https://satie-h2020.eu/index.php/media/