Operational cybersecurity risks and their effect on adoption of additive manufacturing in the naval domain

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been proven to provide multiple benefits over traditional manufacturing methods including cost-savings, mission adaptability, and increased unit capabilities. Multiple DOD organizations are exploring and utilizing AM technology, and efforts are ongoing to determine how best to achieve large-scale adoption of AM in the United States Navy (USN). The primary concern that must be addressed is the trustworthiness of AM objects to ensure they will not increase risks to personnel, equipment, and systems. Including cybersecurity throughout the AM life cycle is a necessary component of protecting AM data and ensuring trust in AM objects to support adoption. This thesis reviews aspects of cybersecurity domain as it is applied to AM, and discusses the insights of a survey conducted with USN, United States Army (USA), and United States Air Force (USAF) resident NPS students. The goal of the survey was to contrast current understanding of adoption of technology and cybersecurity threats in AM, with the knowledge, attitudes, and opinions that prospective users have. The thesis identifies barriers to achieve large-scale adoption of AM in the naval domain with special emphasis on cybersecurity, and proposes approaches to address those barriers and support accelerated adoption of AM.