DHS you can hack into a Boeing 757 remotely

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (wikipedia) said that technology could make vehicles and aircraft more susceptible to penetration through a remote operation to penetrate a Boeing 757 aircraft through wireless systems while the aircraft was on the runway at an airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey. . The hacking operation took place in September 2016, but the operation was not disclosed at the time.

The discovery of the operation was made by Robert Hickey, a DHS official during his speech at the Nov. 8 Security Summit. The issue of increasing use of electronics and Internet access in transport vehicles is a double-edged sword, giving new technology Drivers and pilots have more information and facilitate communication, but they allow these vehicles to be more vulnerable to cyber attacks.

The exact details of how Robert Hickey and his team penetrated the aircraft are confidential, but pointed out that no one in his team had any actual contact with the aircraft or his team’s use of any material that might be reported by the security and protection elements, while Boeing insists that the penetration Has been limited to the aircraft communication system and has not reached any of the controls or software that can change the flight path.

The penetration was achieved through access to radio-based communications. Several agencies had previously warned that the interconnection of modern commercial aircraft could provide unauthorized remote access to aviation systems in aircraft. Concern was centered around the possibility of Hackers penetrate the aircraft while flying in the air through a wireless passenger network.

Hickey added that his team had received no help from anyone on the plane and that all the equipment used was an available electronics that could be legally retrieved and passed through the security checkpoint at the airport and that the vulnerability exploited by the team was known for a period of Time, the main reason for not addressing this vulnerability is high costs, Hickey estimates that the process of changing one line of code across the fleet of aircraft may need more than a million dollars and a full year of work.

“We have seen the test and can say unequivocally that there was no penetration of the flight control systems in the aircraft,” the company said. DHS and the Transportation Safety Administration issued instructions to prevent passengers from boarding planes with things that might endanger the safety of other passengers But the security of the aircraft infrastructure may need to be greatly improved if there is a possibility that the aircraft will be compromised