The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), leading trade association for uncrewed vehicle systems, announced the AUVSI Trusted Cyber Program – a collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to establish a cybersecurity certification for commercial drones.
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The resulting shared standard, which AUVSI describes as “like the one used to develop the DIU’s Blue UAS ‘Cleared List.'” will hopefully allow faster processing so that more qualifying commercial drone platforms can be added to the list.
“The goal of this new pilot initiative is to extend relevant cyber credentialing across the U.S. industrial base, proactively, streamlining and accelerating capabilities available to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the rest of the U.S. government,” said Brian Wynne, AUVSI President and CEO. “We are grateful for DIU’s partnership and look forward to working with them to make the U.S. drone industry more resilient and secure.”
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Blue sUAS list, originally intended only to apply to aircraft appropriate for Department of Defense use, has been widely adopted by other federal agencies, some states, and the GSA for general procurement. This has placed a heavy administrative burden upon the DIU, which doesn’t have the staff to review all of the qualifying platforms who apply for the program. AUVSI’s action may offer concrete and much needed help to commercial platforms who comply with published NDAA requirements, but have not yet been added to the cleared list.
AUVSI efforts will streamline the vetting process and further expand the potential small UAS entrants to the government through its Trusted Cyber Program. The industry-led cyber compliance effort will work with a suite of cybersecurity firms to provide technical cyber assessments before DIU, DoD, and government organizations can then conduct additional vetting, if needed.
The Blue UAS program has helped establish a cybersecurity baseline and coordinate government efforts to streamline the approval process for commercially available NDAA-compliant drones. There are currently 13 drones scheduled to be added to the Blue UAS Cleared List, but demand for additional cleared drones with new capabilities has outpaced DIU’s ability to scale this critical program due to limited funding and manpower. Because of its unique position in the market, AUVSI and its Trusted Cyber Program will provide this cybersecurity certification pathway to the commercial industry in close coordination with DIU.
“Commercial-off-the-shelf sUAS are increasingly relied upon by federal agencies as critical tools to conduct diverse operations,” said David Michelson, DIU Program Manager for Blue UAS. “Partnerships with industry that make it easier for federal users to access commercial technology will help achieve the program’s goals.”
AUVSI and its Trusted Cyber Program will continue to work with industry members on developing similar cybersecurity standards and ultimately a certification program for other vehicle domains, including automated vehicles and maritime vessels.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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