Ride the Lightning

Can Your Plane Be Hacked? Apparently, Yes.

April 21, 2015

CBS news recently reported that the Government Accountability Office (were they laughing when they named it that?) has found that Internet connectivity aboard an airplane constitutes a vulnerability which attackers could exploit.

While not necessarily easy to do, the very thought is disturbing – especially to nervous flyers like me!

A worst-case scenario would be a terrorist with a laptop sitting on board the plane and taking control of the plane using passenger Wi-Fi according to Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who requested the investigation.

The avionics in a cockpit operate as a self-contained unit and aren't connected to the same system used by passengers to watch movies or work on their laptops. But as airlines update their systems with Internet-based networks, it's not uncommon for Wi-Fi systems to share routers or internal wiring. I know just enough to know that's not a good thing, in spite of the firewalls designed to create barriers. Firewalls can be hacked.

The GAO released a separate report last March that determined the FAA's system for guiding planes and other aircraft also was at "increased and unnecessary risk" of being hacked.

One weakness is the ability to prevent and detect unauthorized access to the network of computer and communications systems the FAA uses to process and track flights around the world. The FAA relies on more than 100 of these air traffic systems to direct planes.

This white-knuckled flyer was less than overjoyed to learn that turbulence and equipment malfunctions aren't the only thing to fear in the air. Thanks (I think) Dave Ries.

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