Profili giuridici della sicurezza informatica nel trasporto aereo. Legal Aspects of Civil Aviation Cybersafety and Cybersecurity

The cybercrimes are among the more serious threats to civil aviation safety and security. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a specific recommendation practice related to the cybersecurity, amending the Annex 17 of the Chicago Convention. The ICAO recommends that Member States provide measures aimed at protecting their information and communication systems from cyberattacks, which could endanger civil aviation. The European Union adopted several measures to deal with aviation cybercrimes. In Italy, the government updated and redefined institutional competences, instruments and procedures devoted to national cybersecurity protection with respect to critical infrastructures, such as air transport. Currently the international community has not yet provided a mandatory legal instrument in dealing with the civil aviation cyber safety and cybersecurity. Additionally, the 2010 Beijing Convention, which for the first-time dealt with the threat of aviation cyberterrorism, had not come into force yet. Therefore, it is necessary to have harmonized legal instruments, which on one hand, protect aviation information systems, and on the other hand, prevent and repress any cyberattacks. The European Union can through directives establish minimum standards concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in respect to terrorism and cybercrimes that are considered particularly serious and have a cross-border dimension. Nevertheless, directives are not self-executing, and hence require the cooperation of European Union and all Member States. Furthermore, sanctions and jurisdictional criteria related to cybercrimes are only established by each Member State. These constraints prevent the adoption of a harmonized European regulation to prevent and repress the cyberattacks. Moreover, the trend to exclude the transport administrations from dealing with the cybersecurity issues do not favour the fight against aviation cybercrime.