Posted on 04/15/2015 1:45:56 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A worst-case scenario is that a terrorist with a laptop would sit among the passengers and take control of the airplane using its passenger Wi-Fi, said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who requested the investigation.
"That's a serious vulnerability, and FAA should work quickly" to fix the problem, DeFazio said.
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.
According to the report, FAA and cybersecurity experts told investigators that airlines are relying on "firewalls" to create barriers. But because firewalls are software, they could be hacked.
"According to cybersecurity experts we interviewed, Internet connectivity in the cabin should be considered a direct link between the aircraft and the outside world, which includes potential malicious actors," the report states.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Okay, you know how you’re on a airplane and the flight attendant asks you to turn your cell phone off? And you’re like, “I ain’t turning my cell phone off. That ain’t have nothing to do with no damn airplane.” Well, this is what we get. That’s what happens. It gets up there, bounces around on the satellite, then blam! Just turn your damn cell phone off. Now you’re gonna drive off a cliff tonight ‘cause your GPS don’t work. — Agent J
Simple solution. Have physically separate routers for WiFi and controls. You can’t hack what you have no access to.
Remember Battlestar Galactica ... :-) ...
If this is a physically separate system, and it should be, there is no issue. If an aircraft has a LAN for flight control, you're not going to burden it with the traffic from the in-flight movie channels. It's just more of the usual media "what shall we panic the people with today".
DeFazio, my congress critter, is a self- serving alarmist who is anti capitalist at his core. I’ll hold my breath while waiting to see if this is realistic.
“WTH didn’t they fix it before making it public? “
No, they have to use the information to try and scare the crap out of the public first. This way they can blow it up to crisis proportions and get those cretins in congress to nibble away a few more rights.
Why would they “update” avionic software IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLIGHT? Idiots.
Is all software hackable? Are future and current rolling autos
Vulnerable?
Did the BatMobile come with Remote Control?
Stay Tuned Bat Kids!
Being Human is dangerous to your health.
The Obama administration should be overjoyed. They now have a new tool in their arsenal to silence his dissenters.
> DeFazio, my congress critter, is a self- serving alarmist who is anti capitalist at his core. I’ll hold my breath while waiting to see if this is realistic.
And knows just the guy to fix this situation ...for a price
We should not have WiFi systems that communicate with the computers that control the aircraft. Period. There is no such thing as “enough security” for that. Anything running on software can be hacked/compromised.
There has to be a physical moat. No form of wireless data connection should exist to the flight computers PERIOD. PERIOD!!! If you need to input flight info, you should have to do it on another computer, whether that instrument is in the panel or hand held and that should have to be manually uploaded to the system by a human.
What I’m describing doesn’t have to be what you think. It can be as simple as a dedicated computer with wifi in the panel that only makes physical connection to the aircraft flight computer when you push a button or turn a knob to upload.
That way, NOTHING known to man can compromise the flight computer info during flight unless you are in the cockpit.
It’s common sense.
The very thought that ANY data systems in an aircraft are in any way connected to the passengers or outside the aircraft is unfathomable.
I say “prove it!”
Because they’re running on a 1985 version of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator!
“...is unfathomable”
Using Patton’s logic, “therefor I believe it is true!”
Because it isn’t a problem. I know - I work in the field, and know what safeguards are in place, including having separate data streams for flight control and passenger info domains.
The article is FUD.
Controls are not on wifi. The whole article is crap.
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