Can your flight be hacked?

It took Robert Hickey and his team of researchers just two days to do what the aerospace industry had insisted was nigh impossible. On September 21 2016, the US Department of Homeland Security official hacked into the systems of a Boeing 757 passenger aircraft parked in the airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was, he said last year, “a remote, non-co-operative penetration” without insider help or being onboard, using “typical stuff that could get through security”. Hickey waited more than a year to drop his bombshell at a cyber security conference in Virginia and even then he gave scant detail about what had been accessed and how — for obvious security reasons. But his revelation has raised serious questions about aviation’s exposure to cyber attack as aircraft, airports and air traffic control systems become increasingly reliant on digital systems. Passengers can now FaceTime friends on their own devices while flying across the ocean. Pilots are ditching their heavy manuals and maps for WiFi-enabled tablets. Airlines are also harvesting the data generated by the aircraft — on everything from the engine to air conditioning — in order to monitor performance and operate more efficiently. “We have to admit that the threats and vulnerabilities have changed,” says Matthieu Gualino, who provides security training for consultants LA Conseils and ICAO. “We have had technology in the air for many years . . .[but] the rise of connected technologies leads to greater vulnerability.” The US Government Accountability Office has warned at least twice in the last three years that the industry and regulators need to step up their efforts to guard against cyber attacks as technology evolves at an ever faster pace. Story has more background and details.<br/>