8 Oct 2015
Organised by IXG, the conference put across variety of issues facing general aviation including security, aviation legislation, etc.

The Aviation Security Conference 2015 was held at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort, UAE on 16th - 17th September 2015, featuring the leading stakeholders and thought leaders of global aviation industry. The conference organised by Information Exchange Group (IXG) put across a variety of issues facing general aviation including airport and airline security, general aviation security, corporate security, physical security, aviation legislation, airport management, and national security and intelligence.

During the two days of the conference, the attendees experienced interactive panel discussions, speed-networking sessions and engaging presentations addressing both existing and future aviation security challenges.

Day 1 highlights:

Day 1 witnessed Faye Francy, Executive Director at A-ISAC sharing the Importance of Information Sharing in the Digital Age whilst focusing on a safe, secure, efficient & resilient Global Air Transportation System. Patrick Cuschieri, Aviation Security Specialist from the General Civil Aviation Authority discussed the significant role of the human factors for sustaining a motivated security workforce.

Day 1 focused on topics including the importance of Integrated Aviation Security Systems, Advanced Data Applications for Aviation Security, Aviation Threats, Risk Assessment and Solutions.

The group discussion steered by Jeffery Apolis from CERT with members like Deepika Batra DiGiovine from GE & Faye Francy from A-ISAC asked the audience the right questions on Cyber Information Sharing & Cyber Security and engaged them in interactive discussions.

Day 2 highlights:

Day 1 focused on topics including the importance of Integrated Aviation Security Systems, Advanced Data Applications for Aviation Security, Aviation Threats, Risk Assessment and Solutions

Day 2 started with a stirring presentation on Cyber Security by Biju Hameed, Head of Information Security & Compliance at Dubai Airports Company. Raoul Chiesa, Member at AIIC & ISECOM enthralled and captivated the hall with his very interesting Case Study on ‘How we penetration tested one of the largest European international airports’.

The second day also witnessed the most innovative presentation of the day by Capt. Sultan Alshamsi, Head of Safety from Dubai Police discussing the new security and safety challenges of using drones in civilian application. The anticipated panel discussion of the day covered physical security - fast paced changes, significant improvements and the latest technologies that will turn these systems into profit centres.

Key takeaways:

Key takeaways of the Aviation Security conference were:

  • Importance of collaboration in responding to AVSEC threats
  • Next level in security technology
  • Systematic threat assessment and adapting security measures based on the latest threats research
  • Quality control in aviation security
  • Human-machine interaction in x-ray screening
  • Sharing threat intelligence across the aviation ecosystem supports protecting the industry