Hacker Says Passenger Jets At Risk Of Cyber Attack

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So far today we've heard that cars will be hacked at Black Hat and now, according to this article, planes will be hacked too. I guess everyone will be walking to the convention this year. :D

Cyber security researcher Ruben Santamarta says he has figured out how to hack the satellite communications equipment on passenger jets through their WiFi and inflight entertainment systems - a claim that, if confirmed, could prompt a review of aircraft security.
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In flight entertainment systems are usually not tied in any way to the control and operation of a plane.
 
yeah hack the IFES to broadcast naughty stuff... thats about it.

all base systems are still running 8086 class cpus and systems... good luck with that
 
Somebody needs a swift kick in the ass if the flight deck computers and controls aren't physically separated from the passenger internet and entertainment. Even a firewall isn't good enough. They need to be totally physically separate systems not linked in any way.
 
Cobra said:
Somebody needs a swift kick in the ass if the flight deck computers and controls aren't physically separated from the passenger internet and entertainment. Even a firewall isn't good enough. They need to be totally physically separate systems not linked in any way.
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In all systems I know of, they are completely separate. PAC doesn't even make software to interface with flight systems, nor hardware.
 
Why for the love of god are these systems interconnected in the first place?
 
Looking at the article he re the software to find that there was a hard coded password in the entertainment system that was the same for the other on board systems. Hard coding passwords is insane. I can see wanting to prevent them from being able to be changed in flight but if it is hard coded it means it vulnerable from where it was built on. They should go back to eprom chips. Hummm I wonder if it is hard coded to prevent it from being lost in a lighting strike. meh I still think it is crazy.
 
He's claiming that he can hack the GPS system through the WiFi / entertainment system. Has he successfully tried it? Because it's possible, if the systems are separated, that there's two GPS systems. One for the passengers and one for the plane.

I know the inflights usually let you see all of the flight info (map with location/gps, speed, altitude, etc), but if that's how he got in, that is an absolute silly level of implementation.
 
I swear I read this exact article over a year ago.

I don't think it's a big deal. So he hacks the nav systems? Big deal. So he tells a plane to fly off course. ATC would query the pilots who would realize there is a problem and switch to alternate (mostly manual) forms of navigation. The only time this would be a potential problem would be for over-water ops. However, in over-water ops, the pilots have to verify their position at regular intervals using other than gps systems. Then again, in other countries, where radar coverage is not 100% at high altitude like it is in the US, it could be a problem.
 
Frickin' wonderful. Now our pathetic airlines will have even MORE useless security to go through. Take off your shoes, turn on your phone or laptop to prove it works, don't set your underwear on fire, a nailclipper will kill us all, shampoo or any liquids over 0.000004oz is cause for 6-hour delays.... Do you like to play Angry Birds? Me too! We should TOTALLY take over Jet Blue!
 
Yippee38 said:
I swear I read this exact article over a year ago.

I don't think it's a big deal. So he hacks the nav systems? Big deal. So he tells a plane to fly off course. ATC would query the pilots who would realize there is a problem and switch to alternate (mostly manual) forms of navigation. The only time this would be a potential problem would be for over-water ops. However, in over-water ops, the pilots have to verify their position at regular intervals using other than gps systems. Then again, in other countries, where radar coverage is not 100% at high altitude like it is in the US, it could be a problem.
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I think it has potential to be a HUGE deal, Yippee, in this incredibly PC an alarmist nation that is the U.S. It made headlines somewhere, an there is a chance to make more dumb laws an hire more union security workers to ruin your day because they feel a major power-trip. I agree, I don't think it is a big deal as far as being done, but you just know the airlines will include more stupid do's an don't's to the ever-increasing panic-list, just because it was headlined somewhere that there might be an .0001% chance it might happen.
 
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