Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

A government watchdog is calling on the FAA to update and complete plans to mitigate security breaches of its Data Communications (DataComm) system and minimize the potential effects of a loss of availability. On July 6, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) <a href="https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/36597?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery" target="_blank">released a report</a> on FAA’s actions to guard against such DataComm security breaches, finding the “FAA is identifying—but is not mitigating—security risks in a timely manner.” The review focused on the FAA’s Data Communications Network Service (DCNS) and Tower Data Link Services (TDLS).

 


The OIG recognized that DataComm, which enables controllers and pilots to communicate digitally, is a key part of the FAA’s NextGen modernization effort.&nbsp;By early this year, DataComm had been rolled out to 57 airports, with another seven in line for the system, and was fully operational in more than 1,100 aircraft, the OIG said.

 


“Thus, it is critical that FAA incorporate sufficient controls to protect against potential security threats to that communication, including an effective contingency plan to ensure a quick recovery from losses of DataComm availability,” the watchdog added.

 


The OIG was specifically concerned about the FAA’s delays in implementing two “high impact” plans. Originally to be in place by October 2017, the first plan is now slated for implementation by the end of the year and the second by March 31, 2019. “[The] FAA had previously identified these two security deficiencies and wrote the [plans] to mitigate the control weaknesses, but did not meet, reduce, or eliminate the vulnerabilities by the planned completion dates,” the OIG said. “IT security control weaknesses that remain unaddressed for extended periods of time can create unnecessary system exposures that may be exploited by intruders or compromise the availability or integrity of systems and data.”

 


The OIG added that the delays stemmed from a funding issue and the FAA was currently working with a vendor to complete them.&nbsp;The OIG did not detail the security deficiencies.

 


The OIG, however, did say the FAA’s contingency plans for DCNS and TDLS “are sufficient to limit the effects of DataComm unavailability.”

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