A communication adapter of a gas turbine engine of an aircraft, the communication adapter comprising: a communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an offboard system and to communicate with an engine control of the gas turbine engine; a memory system; and processing circuitry configured to: receive an engine control update request from the offboard system; confirm an authentication between the communication adapter and the engine control; apply a cryptographic algorithm using one or more parameters received and cryptographic information to decrypt one or more encrypted configuration items received at the communication adapter, wherein the decryption uses a combination of transmitted and stored cryptographic information; transfer the one or more configuration items received at the communication adapter from the offboard system to the engine control based on the authentication, wherein the authentication comprises verifying an authority for a class of user of the offboard system; block access of the offboard system from reading or writing to a memory of the engine control based on an authentication failure; and transmit an update completion confirmation of the engine control from the communication adapter to the offboard system based on a confirmation message from the engine control. a communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an offboard system and to communicate with an engine control of the gas turbine engine; a memory system; and processing circuitry configured to: receive an engine control update request from the offboard system; confirm an authentication between the communication adapter and the engine control; apply a cryptographic algorithm using one or more parameters received and cryptographic information to decrypt one or more encrypted configuration items received at the communication adapter, wherein the decryption uses a combination of transmitted and stored cryptographic information; transfer the one or more configuration items received at the communication adapter from the offboard system to the engine control based on the authentication, wherein the authentication comprises verifying an authority for a class of user of the offboard system; block access of the offboard system from reading or writing to a memory of the engine control based on an authentication failure; and transmit an update completion confirmation of the engine control from the communication adapter to the offboard system based on a confirmation message from the engine control. receive an engine control update request from the offboard system; confirm an authentication between the communication adapter and the engine control; apply a cryptographic algorithm using one or more parameters received and cryptographic information to decrypt one or more encrypted configuration items received at the communication adapter, wherein the decryption uses a combination of transmitted and stored cryptographic information; transfer the one or more configuration items received at the communication adapter from the offboard system to the engine control based on the authentication, wherein the authentication comprises verifying an authority for a class of user of the offboard system; block access of the offboard system from reading or writing to a memory of the engine control based on an authentication failure; and transmit an update completion confirmation of the engine control from the communication adapter to the offboard system based on a confirmation message from the engine control.