Posted on 04/15/2015 6:46:28 AM PDT by fruser1
The finding by the Government Accountability Office presents chilling new scenarios for passengers. The report doesn't suggest it would be easy to do, or very likely. But it points out that as airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration attempt to modernize planes and flight tracking with Internet-based technology, attackers have a new vulnerability they could exploit.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Opening up control systems to public networks is a bad idea.
Can't wait for terrorists to hack into the power company with all those "smart" meters.
Cops and criminals probably drooling over that prospect themselves.
I have always wondered about Wi-Fi signals flying around inside an aircraft.
I say ALL electronics,checked under neath..dont like it walk.
Make it like Battlestar Galactica ... :-) ... that’s the problem they had, too ... :-) ...
Agreed. More modern electronics (including the flight control systems for airplanes) should be immune to it. However, you can never be 100% certain. But this is a test that the engineers can run when they are designing the electronics. I’d be surprised that it isn’t part of the standardized immunity testing.
Seems like cell phones would be worse because of the power levels.
It seems that a hacker wouldn’t even have to be aboard a plane, if what they’re saying is correct.
I’ve been looking for a reason to go in to a blind panic today.
I suppose this story is a candidate, but I think maybe I’ll wait until after lunch, so I can see what other stories develop over the course of the morning.
“it’s not uncommon for Wi-Fi systems to share routers or internal wiring”
If they are sharing the same routers an or wiring they are NOT seperate systems. They may be segragated but unless there is an air gap between the systems the potenial for cracking exists. Even if an air gap does exist there is remote potenial for cracking, spoofing and other nefarious activity but it is way more difficult.
I saw this reported from Fox News the last time an Asian plane went down into the ocean/sea. This is a recycled report that has a much earlier date.
This technique may explain some of the downed aircraft from last year, not the why but the how.
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