Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES)

Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES) Certification Program by Tonex

Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES) Certification Program by Tonex prepares professionals to assess drone platforms for real-world cyber risk across avionics, firmware, ground control, and mission communications. The program emphasizes practical test and evaluation thinking to identify attack surfaces, validate security controls, and document findings in a way that supports remediation and operational acceptance.

Participants learn how adversaries target command-and-control links, navigation dependencies, update mechanisms, and operator workflows, then translate those insights into repeatable test plans and evidence-driven reports.

Strong cybersecurity outcomes depend on verifying what the platform actually enforces under stress, misuse, and hostile interference, not just what policies claim. By focusing on measurable cybersecurity impact, the program helps teams reduce mission disruption, prevent unauthorized control, and improve resilience against spoofing, jamming-adjacent manipulation, and firmware-level compromise in UAS environments.

Learning Objectives

• Build a structured test approach for evaluating UAS cyber risk across platform components and mission phases
• Perform UAV-focused penetration testing scoping, targeting, and evidence collection aligned to rules of engagement
• Assess command-and-control and telemetry channels for authentication, integrity, replay resistance, and failure handling
• Evaluate navigation and positioning trust assumptions, including GPS spoofing indicators and compensating controls
• Analyze drone firmware and update paths to identify exploitable logic, insecure interfaces, and persistence opportunities
• Produce defensible findings reports with prioritization, mitigations, and verification steps that improve cybersecurity outcomes

Audience

• Red Teams
• Cybersecurity Professionals
• Cybersecurity Testers and Assessors
• Defense and Government Evaluation Labs
• UAS Platform Security Engineers
• Product Security and Vulnerability Management Teams

Program Modules

Module 1: UAS Attack Surface and T&E Planning

• UAS architecture decomposition for test design
• Threat modeling for mission and platform context
• Test objectives, constraints, and safety boundaries
• Evidence collection strategy and chain of custody
• Success criteria and measurable security outcomes
• Reporting structure for T&E stakeholders

Module 2: UAV Penetration Testing Methodologies

• Recon techniques for UAS ecosystems and operators
• Exploit path development for drone subsystems
• Privilege escalation patterns in embedded targets
• Persistence and cleanup considerations for testing
• Validation of mitigations and regression retesting
• Operational risk notes for mission environments

Module 3: Communication Link Security Validation

• C2 and telemetry protocol inspection approaches
• Encryption and key management verification methods
• Authentication, authorization, and session handling
• Replay, downgrade, and injection test techniques
• Range and interference considerations for test design
• Secure comms acceptance criteria and evidence

Module 4: GPS Spoofing and Navigation Resilience

• Spoofing indicators and test scenario selection
• Sensor fusion assumptions and trust boundaries
• Failover behaviors and safe-mode validation
• Detection thresholds and alerting effectiveness
• Geofence and mission logic manipulation checks
• Mitigations verification and control effectiveness

Module 5: Drone Firmware and Update Path Analysis

• Firmware acquisition, triage, and component mapping
• Static analysis targets and vulnerability patterns
• Update signing, rollback, and integrity validation
• Debug interfaces and hidden service discovery
• Secure boot expectations and bypass indicators
• Documenting findings for engineering remediation

Module 6: Adversary Emulation and Framework-Based Assessment

• Red-team attack chains tailored to UAS missions
• Objective-driven testing and containment practices
• Mapping findings to vulnerability frameworks
• Risk scoring and prioritization for decision makers
• Mitigation verification and residual risk statements
• Final evaluation package and executive summary

Exam Domains

1. UAS Cyber Risk Management and Governance
2. Embedded Systems Exploit Development Concepts
3. Navigation Integrity and Trust Engineering
4. Secure Key Handling and Cryptographic Assurance
5. Operational Security for UAS Missions
6. Reporting, Metrics, and Remediation Verification

Course Delivery
The course is delivered through a combination of lectures, interactive discussions, hands-on workshops, and project-based learning, facilitated by experts in the field of Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES) Certification Program by Tonex. Participants will have access to online resources, including readings, case studies, and tools for practical exercises.

Assessment and Certification
Participants will be assessed through quizzes, assignments, and a capstone project. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate in Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES) Certification Program by Tonex.

Question Types

• Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
• Scenario-based Questions

Passing Criteria
To pass the Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES) Certification Program by Tonex Certification Training exam, candidates must achieve a score of 70% or higher.

Build the skills to test UAS platforms with confidence and produce results that stakeholders can act on. Enroll in the Certified UAS Cybersecurity Test & Evaluation Specialist (CUCTES) Certification Program by Tonex and strengthen mission-ready drone security through rigorous evaluation.