{"ID":2841103,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.12766","arxiv_id":"2511.12766","title":"Cybersecurity of High-Altitude Platform Stations: Threat Taxonomy, Attacks and Defenses with Standards Mapping - DDoS Attack Use Case","abstract":"High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) are emerging stratospheric nodes within non-terrestrial networks. We provide a structured overview of HAPS subsystems and principal communication links, map cybersecurity and privacy exposure across communication, control, and power subsystems, and propose a stratosphere-aware threat taxonomy. We then discuss defenses feasible under HAPS constraints including encryption and authentication, frequency agility, directional and beam-steered antennas, intrusion detection, secure boot, and software and supply-chain assurance-while highlighting how they align with emerging regulatory and standards guidance. Finally, we report a simulation-based case study using OMNeT++/INET to characterize distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) impact on service and control-plane availability, and summarize regulatory and standardization considerations relevant to deployment. We conclude with concrete future research directions. The study is simulation-grounded and intended to inform engineering trade-offs for real-world HAPS deployments rather than serve as an on-air validation.","short_abstract":"High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) are emerging stratospheric nodes within non-terrestrial networks. We provide a structured overview of HAPS subsystems and principal communication links, map cybersecurity and privacy exposure across communication, control, and power subsystems, and propose a stratosphere-aware thr...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.12766","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.12766v1","authors":"[\"Chaouki Hjaiji\",\"Bassem Ouni\",\"Mohamed-Slim Alouini\"]","published":"2025-11-16T20:28:58Z","proceeding":"cs.CR","tasks":"[\"cs.CR\",\"cs.NI\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}