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G. Ray News-2

Aviation research focuses on air traffic control issues

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — A Shepherd University professor is conducting research that he hopes will help make aircraft communication more secure. Dr. George Ray, assistant professor of business administration, presented his research at the 63rd Annual Conference of the International Association for Computer Information Systems, and it has been published in two publications.

Ray’s research focuses on the National Airspace System (NAS), which manages air traffic nationwide. Ray said its various components include GPS (Global Positioning System), ADS-B (Automated Dependent Surveillance Broadcast), and secondary surveillance radar systems.

“Most people aren’t considering the national airspace system as a cyber system that’s vulnerable to hacking attacks,” Ray said.

Ray developed a computer-based ADS-B system that performs the same functions as air traffic controllers and transponders that are located on aircraft. His research covers several concerns of air traffic communication—possible hacking, including replay and other types of attacks on the system, potential for garbled messages when many planes are in the air near an airport, and increasing drone traffic.

Ray’s equipment reports ADS-B statistics such as aircraft location, velocity, and other information needed to manage the skies and avoid collisions. Using more than 14 million ADS-B transmissions from a region northwest of the Dulles International Airport, he and Jeffrey Ray, University of Maryland Baltimore County adjunct instructor, ran a data analysis on the readings.

“The ADS-B transponder that I built captures radio frequency signals that I can analyze and determine things such as whether a hacking attack is going on,” Ray said.

Ray’s research also looks at replay attacks, which are when someone plays an ADS-B recording from the past.

“The idea is to confuse the air space, so people don’t know what’s out there,” Ray said. “My system successfully detected various replay attack scenarios, and we have suggested some mitigation measures for countering when replay attacks take place.”

Ray and Jeffrey Ray address problems and propose several solutions for relay attacks in a paper published in “Issues in Information Systems: Volume 24, Issue 1,” a publication of the International Association for Computer Information Systems. A paper by Ray addressing communication interference is published in the International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace.

Ray runs the aviation management concentration in Shepherd’s College of Business, Recreation, and Education. His background is in computer programming and architectural engineering, having previously worked for Microsoft and AT&T. Ray plans to continue his research into aviation communication issues, including issues with the addition of drones using the country’s air space.

ISSUED: 27 November 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: Cecelia Mason