Aircraft, Avionics and Airline Systems
Penetration Testing Built for Airworthiness Security
An aircraft is now a network with wings. Avionics buses, cabin connectivity, satellite links and the maintenance laptops that touch them all form paths an intruder could chain together. GDF tests those paths to DO-326A/ED-202A, DO-356A/ED-203A, the FAA special conditions and EASA Part-IS, and delivers findings your airworthiness security case can carry.
Scope the aircraft and the ground
Scoping Built Around Your Certification Basis
Most aviation test requests start with a document rather than a network: a special condition in the type certification basis, a security risk assessment under DO-326A, a Part-IS obligation for an airline or maintenance organization, or a security requirement an aircraft maker has passed down to its avionics supplier. We start there. GDF performs airworthiness security penetration testing for aircraft and avionics manufacturers, airlines and maintenance organizations, and every scope ties each test objective to the requirement, threat condition or information security risk it has to verify, so the report answers the question your certification engineers or information security manager will actually be asked.
Aircraft Networks and Avionics
Aircraft data networks, ARINC 429 and ARINC 664 buses, domain gateways, data loading and maintenance functions, and the line replaceable units on each side of a security perimeter, tested against the threat conditions in your security case.
Cabin Connectivity and Satellite Links
In flight entertainment and connectivity servers, cabin wireless, passenger device isolation, satellite communications terminals and the ground services behind them, tested for any route from a seat or the ground segment toward aircraft domains.
Airline, MRO and Ground Systems
Electronic flight bags, portable maintenance devices, software loading and parts records, crew and operations portals, and the airline and maintenance IT that Part-IS brings into scope, tested from an outsider's and an insider's position.
Methodology
How an Airworthiness Test Campaign Runs
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Security Case: Requirements and Threat Conditions
We read your security scope definition, perimeter, threat conditions and security measures, or the Part-IS risk assessment for an organization, and turn each into a test objective with a pass condition an authority would recognize.
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Entry Points: Interfaces Across the Perimeter
We enumerate every interface that crosses the security perimeter, from cabin wireless and satellite terminals to maintenance ports, data loaders and ground connections, and rank them by the access an attacker needs to use them.
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Bench and Rig: Controlled Validation
Active testing runs on a bench, an integration rig or an aircraft on the ground under written test procedures, with the hardware and software configuration recorded so each result traces to a part number and software load.
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Attack Paths: Chained Exploitation
We chain confirmed weaknesses into the routes an intruder would follow, for example from a passenger device through the cabin network toward an aircraft information domain, and record where each security measure held or failed.
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Certification Record: Findings, Fixes and Retest
Findings map to the requirement or threat condition they affect, with reproduction steps, the airworthiness effect and corrective actions. After your engineers change the design, we retest and document the result for the certification record.
If your program needs test evidence for a type certificate, a supplemental type certificate or a Part-IS milestone, describe the program and its deadline and we will map a test campaign to it.
Testing to the Standards Your Authority Expects
Airworthiness security in the United States and Europe rests on one family of industry documents, published jointly by RTCA and EUROCAE. DO-326A/ED-202A, Airworthiness Security Process Specification, defines the process from project start to type certificate, and DO-356A/ED-203A, Airworthiness Security Methods and Considerations, supplies the methods, including the security verification a penetration test contributes. DO-355A/ED-204A carries the same discipline into continued airworthiness once the aircraft is in service. See RTCA's airworthiness security document page and EUROCAE ED-203A, Airworthiness Security Methods and Considerations.
In the United States the FAA has handled aircraft network security through special conditions issued project by project. Its August 2024 proposed rule, Equipment, Systems, and Network Information Security Protection, records that the agency has issued such special conditions on every new transport category airplane certification project and proposes standing requirements for airplanes, engines and propellers in their place.
In Europe, EASA Part-IS, Regulations (EU) 2022/1645 and 2023/203, requires an information security management system and evidence that it works. The delegated regulation has applied to design and production organizations and aerodrome operators since October 16, 2025, and the implementing regulation has applied to air operators, Part-145 maintenance organizations, CAMOs and others since February 22, 2026. A well scoped test of airline, MRO and ground systems is some of the most direct evidence an organization can show its competent authority.
Tell us which certification basis or Part-IS obligation drives the work, or call (800) 868-8189, and a senior tester will explain how the test evidence should be structured.
Three Ways Aviation Teams Engage GDF
The right engagement depends on where the product or the organization sits in its life cycle.
Development and Certification Testing
For manufacturers and avionics suppliers working toward a type certificate or a supplemental type certificate, we test the system against its security requirements and threat conditions while design changes are still affordable, then repeat the verification on the conforming configuration.
In Service Airline and MRO Testing
For airlines and maintenance organizations, we test the ground systems, software loading paths, portable maintenance devices, electronic flight bags and connectivity services that touch the fleet, from an outside position and from an assumed compromise inside the network, alongside the organizational controls Part-IS expects.
Supplier and Product Security Reviews
For a single line replaceable unit, cabin product or connectivity service, we examine firmware, interfaces and the update mechanism in white box depth, with source code and design data where you can share them, so the integrator receives test evidence instead of a questionnaire.
Not sure which one fits your program? Scope Your Assessment
Senior Testers Backed by a Forensic Practice
Global Digital Forensics has operated since 1992, and our examiners have testified in federal and state courts. That record shapes how an aviation test is documented: every step is logged so a certification engineer, an authority or, if it ever comes to it, a court can follow exactly what was done and on which configuration.
Founder, CEO and CTO Joseph Caruso holds the CISSP and a dual BA/BS in mathematics and engineering physics from Stevens Institute of Technology, and his technology career since 1980 runs through software development, real time transaction systems, cellular networks and cybersecurity incident response. Robert Knudsen holds the CISSP, Certified Computer Examiner and CHFI credentials with CompTIA Security+ and Network+. Veronica Perez is trained in JTAG, chip off, in system programming and embedded hardware analysis, the skills a test needs when it reaches below a unit's software.
Frequently asked
Airworthiness Testing Questions From Program Teams
Where does active testing take place?
On benches, integration rigs and aircraft on the ground, under written test procedures agreed with your engineering and safety teams. The configuration under test is recorded so the results apply to the type design or fleet configuration you need to show.
Which standards do you test against?
DO-326A/ED-202A and DO-356A/ED-203A for the airworthiness security process and methods, the FAA special conditions on aircraft network security for US certification projects, and EASA Part-IS for organizations within its scope. The scope names the ones that apply to your program.
Can you test cabin connectivity without touching the avionics?
Yes. A cabin engagement covers in flight entertainment and connectivity, cabin wireless, satellite terminals and their ground services, and tests the boundary toward the aircraft control and information domains from the cabin side.
Do you work with airlines and maintenance organizations as well as manufacturers?
Yes. GDF tests for aircraft and avionics manufacturers, airlines and maintenance organizations. In service work concentrates on ground systems, software loading, maintenance devices and the information security controls Part-IS expects.
How are program details and client names handled?
In confidence. Aviation client names, scoping requests, calls and program details stay confidential from the first conversation.
What do we receive at the end?
A report that maps each finding to the requirement or threat condition it affects, with reproduction steps, the airworthiness or information security effect, corrective actions and a retest record your certification or compliance file can reference.
Scope your assessment
Map Your Program to a Test Campaign
On the first call a senior tester walks through your certification basis or Part-IS obligation, the systems and interfaces in scope, the test facility and configuration, and the evidence your authority will expect, then proposes the testing depth and timeline. The consultation is free.
Include the standard behind the request and your deadline.
Operating since 1992. The 24/7 hotline is (800) 868-8189.
Reviewed by Joseph Caruso, Founder, CEO and CTO, CISSP. Last reviewed .