Dr. Krishna Sampigethaya
Dr. Krishna Sampigethaya
Dr. Krishna Sampigethaya is the founder and single manager of CyberAir LLC, which he has led since January 2023. He was the first in the world to defend a Ph.D. dissertation on connected vehicle privacy and aviation cybersecurity research, from the University of Washington (2007). He chairs and teaches in the Cyber Intelligence and Security Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ.
In under five years as chair, he built the department into a DHS/NSA National Center of Academic Excellence for Cybersecurity, home to the world's first ten ABET-accredited cybersecurity degree programs, a DoD CySP Program site, a member of US CYBERCOM's Academic Engagement Network, an RSAC Security Scholar Program site, the only NSF CyberCorps® SFS institution focused on aviation and aerospace cybersecurity, and the provider of the world's only aviation cybersecurity capture-the-flag (CTF) competition and accompanying undergraduate/graduate course. The CTF has been featured at DEF CON, AIAA conferences, the Women in Cyber Security conference, the Aviation ISAC Summit, the DoD-DHS-FAA Aviation Cyber Initiative Cyber Rodeo, and multiple airline headquarters.
He brings a decade of industry experience. At The Boeing Company, he was selected as the first Associate Technical Fellow for aviation cyber-physical security. At the United Technologies Corporation (now Raytheon Technologies) Research Center, he was the first Associate Director for aerospace and commercial product cybersecurity. He founded the first aviation cybersecurity technical committee, started and continues to organize aviation cyber tracks at AIAA, IEEE, and SAE conferences, and served on the RTCA SC-216 committee working jointly with EUROCAE WG-72.
Dr. Sampigethaya has authored more than 90 papers, technical reports, and articles — including several award-winning papers and the first special issue on cyber-physical systems — delivered more than 50 invited talks and keynotes worldwide, and holds 24 U.S. and international patents (with three more pending) in aviation cybersecurity. Over nearly two decades, he has led projects securing aircraft, airport, airline, and air traffic management systems.
In 2025, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) and an AIAA Associate Fellow, and received the AIAA Information Systems Award for “pioneering work and research in aviation cybersecurity in the areas of developing aircraft and air traffic control systems countermeasures, educating the current and next-generation workforce, and enhancing aerospace safety and security.” In 2023, ICAO recognized him with its TrainAir Plus Award as instructor for the most widely implemented ICAO partnership on aviation cybersecurity training. Earlier honors include the American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI) Engineer of the Year Award, the ASEI Corporate Engineering Excellence Award, and a Best Instructor Award at the University of Maryland.
He has taught ICAO's award-winning professional course on aviation cybersecurity leadership and technical management in person to more than 130 participants — regulators, airlines, and other stakeholders — from over 16 countries. Today, through CyberAir, he leads a U.S. public-private partnership with the TSA delivering international capacity-building training, and works with ICAO's CASP AP program and national civil aviation authorities across the Indo-Pacific.
His perspective on aviation cybersecurity has been featured in Vanity Fair, USA Today, and Aerospace Testing International, among other outlets, and he was interviewed by journalist Jeff Wise on the Finding MH370 podcast, discussing aviation cyber-physical security and its relevance to MH370.