Contemporary AS security approaches typically address mission-specific system scenarios, or specific fixed architecture/functionality/applications and threats. However, there is a large and possibly expanding variation of attributes in AS that will only increase with the growing diversity of applications and the associated uncertainties - in the threats and user interactions - in the complex AS/NAS operational spaces. The consequent uncertainties of the AS operational environment render the classical security approaches to be either unrealistic or non-scalable to networked and dynamic AS. At the heart of any AS/NAS architecture is a multi-layered system, where each layer is an opportune surface for potential attacks. Whilst attacks and their mitigation are better understood in traditional systems, the dynamic and evolving states of NAS makes defence much more challenging (including defence against traditional attacks such as spoofing or DoS) as the complex and dynamic NAS behavior increases the diversity of vulnerability spaces for such attacks. Furthermore, there is growing recognition that AS operate within a socio-technical ecosystem with complex emerging relationships with human end users where security considerations need to address cultural, organisational, regulatory and liability challenges of integral diverse human behaviour adaptation and post-hoc audit. Consequently, the key challenges are to provide novel multi-faceted structured security within a multi-layered end-to-end dynamic AS/NAS framework. Developing TAS in the emerging socio-technical context requires fundamentally new cross-disciplinary research in creating new mission-adaptive technical security frameworks, developing countermeasures across interdependent attack surfaces, as well as developing the social science theory for societal, legal and regulatory implications. These apply to the AS assets, its operations and its interactions with the (user) environment. Unlike the current established security and regulatory framework for human-operated systems, the rapid utilization of AS has comparable frameworks still in their infancy. The AS Security Node will, by design, collaborate and cross-fertilise AS research in the other functionality, trust, resilience, verifiability, responsibility and governance & regulatory nodes. Our fundamental inter-disciplinary approach to providing AS security is co-designed from the start with industrial & government partners to ensure maximum industrial relevance and societal impact.

The project will develop fundamental AS security principles utilizing multi-disciplinary socio-technical approaches for solutions that can apply, scale and adapt to changes in both technology and applications. TAS-S systematically addresses the multiple facets of security within the three key AS aspects as: (a) Securing in the AS “Usage” environment, (b) Securing the AS “Operations” environment, and (c) Securing the AS “User” environment.