Aerospace

Threat Landscape

Aerospace cybersecurity is unique in its direct, formal coupling to safety. Regulatory requirements mandate demonstration that aircraft systems are resilient to intentional unauthorised electronic interaction. Modern aircraft architecture integrates multiple interconnected systems — flight controls, navigation, engine management, cabin systems, and maintenance data links — with security boundaries that must be formally assured.

The UK aerospace sector's dual civil-defence nature creates a compliance multiplication effect. Supply chain complexity is among the most security-sensitive in any industry, with component provenance, SBOMs, and supply chain assurance integral to airworthiness certification.

Regulatory & Framework Landscape

Aerospace operators and suppliers face distinct civil and defence regulatory regimes. DO-326A/ED-202A governs airworthiness security for civil aviation. DEF STAN 05-138 sets cybersecurity requirements for defence supply chains. NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC 2.0 apply to organisations handling Controlled Unclassified Information in defence programmes. ISO 27001 provides the enterprise governance baseline.

CCM Domain Alignment

Aerospace organisations use the mandatory baseline (D01–D13) for enterprise governance, with D14 OT/ICS Security activated for avionics and embedded control system environments. This covers both the enterprise IT compliance requirements (ISO 27001, CMMC) and the safety-critical OT environment (DO-326A, IEC 62443).

Operating Context

How C-PAP Supports Aerospace

C-PAP provides a unified compliance architecture serving both civil airworthiness and defence programme assurance. A single assessment against the CCM generates evidence applicable to airworthiness security analyses, defence audits, and CMMC certification simultaneously — eliminating the fragmentation inherent in maintaining parallel compliance programmes.

For tier-1 suppliers serving multiple OEMs and programme primes, C-PAP enables demonstration of security posture without maintaining separate compliance programmes for each customer's requirements. The platform consolidates assessment across multiple regulatory bodies and assessment methodologies.