Plane wi-fi could facilitate terrorism

Plane wi-fi could facilitate terrorism
By Hannah Edensor


The same internet access now available on most commercial flights makes it possible for hackers to bring down a plane, a US government watchdog has warned.

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 try to modernise planes and flight tracking with internet-based technology, attackers have a new vulnerability they could exploit.

Avionics in the cockpit of an airplane 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 rely 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.

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