Agreed! I call B.S. This would imply that airplane data channels and paths use WiFi, Bluetooth or Cellular-network frequencies (the only ones that the Samsung Galaxy can communicate over). They don’t - different frequencies for the links to ground-based sites, and data-paths between and among on-board flight-control systems are hard-wired.
Exactly. Just the notion that critical flight systems are even using WiFi connections is absurd to the extreme. Nobody could be that stupid and design aircraft systems.
"The FAA is aware that a German information technology consultant has alleged he has detected a security issue with the Honeywell NZ-2000 Flight Management System (FMS) using only a desktop computer," the agency wrote, making something of a muddle of the facts.The statement went on to explain that although Teso may have been able to exploit aviation software running on a simulator, as he described in his presentation, the same approach wouldn't work on software running on certified flight hardware.
"The described technique cannot engage or control the aircraft's autopilot system using the FMS or prevent a pilot from overriding the autopilot," the FAA's statement explained. "Therefore, a hacker cannot obtain 'full control of an aircraft' as the technology consultant has claimed."
Looking at the Forbes article, it looks like the Samsung phone is used to control other hardware which does the actual RF stuff.