Hacker Controls 737 Inflight From Airplane Entertainment System (1 Viewer)

[chet]

Wow

Supposedly, he accessed flight control systems with his laptop that was hooked into the flight entertainment system. Very scary if true.

 

[Foosball God]

Seems stupid to have those systems connected.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

I don't believe it.

 

[Brony]

If true, I have deeper appreciation for what a hacker is capable of.

 

[cstu]

I don't believe it.

 

[Brony]

I would hack it so that movies aren't interrupted by loud PA announcements from the pilot about nothing. Why don't they have a pop up text message with whatever is so important?

 

[LAUNCH]

Seems stupid to have those systems connected.

I am sure it was the cheaper option.

 

[mcintyre1]

Seems stupid to have those systems connected.

I am sure it was the cheaper option.

Maybe. It might also just have been something the programmers never expected to happen. How often would someone be trying to attack the software that can only be accessed from inside of the plane? I guess that is where "cheaper" comes in, takes time and money to think of those weird edge cases and code for them.

All of that said, I don't think he did what they claim. But I do think they want to justify putting him in jail for a long time and being able to legally restrict him from sharing whatever knowledge he has about the systems.

 

[Rayderr]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

 

[CGRdrJoe]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

last time I flew to DC from SFO I watched directtv on the plane. I was able to watch college basketball and live soccer all from the comforts of seat 12A.

 

[johnnycakes]

I don't believe it.

I believe it.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

Umm, ancillary revenue?

Domestic airlines make almost all of their profit from ancillary revenue streams from things like baggage fees, upgrades and in-flight entertainment.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

I don't believe it.

I believe it.

it's really not butter...

 

[Cjw_55106]

I don't believe it.

I believe it.

Looks like FBg has a guagmire.

 

[cstu]

Now he's changed his story:

He did, however, admit to Wired that the part about hacking in-flight entertainment systems is true. He claims he didn't do anything beyond exploring the networks a little bit and "observing traffic" on them—a lot less scary than what the FBI's affidavit claims.

Looks like an attention seeker to me.

 

[Foosball God]

Now he's changed his story:

He did, however, admit to Wired that the part about hacking in-flight entertainment systems is true. He claims he didn't do anything beyond exploring the networks a little bit and "observing traffic" on them—a lot less scary than what the FBI's affidavit claims.

Looks like an attention seeker to me.

He also could be scared ####less that he's going to be going away for awhile.

 

[top dog]

Now he's changed his story:

He did, however, admit to Wired that the part about hacking in-flight entertainment systems is true. He claims he didn't do anything beyond exploring the networks a little bit and "observing traffic" on them—a lot less scary than what the FBI's affidavit claims.

Looks like an attention seeker to me.

Or he's trying to avoid federal pound you in the ### prison.

 

[LAUNCH]

Seems stupid to have those systems connected.

I am sure it was the cheaper option.

Maybe. It might also just have been something the programmers never expected to happen. How often would someone be trying to attack the software that can only be accessed from inside of the plane? I guess that is where "cheaper" comes in, takes time and money to think of those weird edge cases and code for them.

All of that said, I don't think he did what they claim. But I do think they want to justify putting him in jail for a long time and being able to legally restrict him from sharing whatever knowledge he has about the systems.

This is real and it's really network security 101. The smart, more expensive way, is to have two completely separate networks. One for the plane and one for the entertainment. The second, less expensive, way is to have a firewall between the two systems. This is the way Boeing has it setup apparently. The problem is that the firewalls can be hacked and are constantly getting updates which require downtime to do and money and staff to test.

 

[mquinnjr]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

Why do people still subscribe to the newspaper? I'd think it's along those lines, still some stragglers/older people who don't want to opt into the new tech.

 

[mquinnjr]

This is very scary if true. How do you screen for this? We might not be great at it, but at least we scan people before boarding a plane for weapons, etc. How do you scan for someone to have the wire to hookup a laptop to the in-flight entertainment systems which interfaces with the flight computers? It seems like if you knew what you were doing that you could definitely take a plane down. That's frightening to me.

 

[LAUNCH]

This is very scary if true. How do you screen for this? We might not be great at it, but at least we scan people before boarding a plane for weapons, etc. How do you scan for someone to have the wire to hookup a laptop to the in-flight entertainment systems which interfaces with the flight computers? It seems like if you knew what you were doing that you could definitely take a plane down. That's frightening to me.

IIRC, it's a USB jack next to the screen. The planes offer it to charge/power your mobile devices while in flight.

He said it was a modified Cat6 (ethernet cable).

 

[[icon]]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

I use in flight wifi on pretty much every flight I'm on that offers it. Great way to stream content or kill time from your seat.

 

[mquinnjr]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

Why do people still subscribe to the newspaper? I'd think it's along those lines, still some stragglers/older people who don't want to opt into the new tech.

I always fly home for Christmas on Sunday, week 16 of the NFL season. Nothing makes a cross-country flight easier than 6 hours of NFL football live on JetBlue, with bets placed beforehand so I have some rooting interest (besides my fantasy championship).

I'd consider that "tech advanced," and have definitely watched NFL games on Sundays on the in-seat TV. Very cool tech, and have been on other airlines where it's just a projector with the movie chosen by the airline. I feel like this is hit or miss, based on airline.

 

[mquinnjr]

This is very scary if true. How do you screen for this? We might not be great at it, but at least we scan people before boarding a plane for weapons, etc. How do you scan for someone to have the wire to hookup a laptop to the in-flight entertainment systems which interfaces with the flight computers? It seems like if you knew what you were doing that you could definitely take a plane down. That's frightening to me.

IIRC, it's a USB jack next to the screen. The planes offer it to charge/power your mobile devices while in flight.

He said it was a modified Cat6 (ethernet cable).

Gotcha. Either way, it's impossible to screen for an off-the-shelf component that's commonplace throughout the world.

That's what scares me. Sounds like this will be up to the airlines to control/resolve from their end.

 

[Wingnut]

I don't believe it.

I believe it.

Looks like FBg has a guagmire.

Giggity!

 

[CGRdrJoe]

So the feds aren't alleging he did this in court or in an actual charge, they're just saying to a judge that he said to them that he did these things at other times (not during the incident under investigation) in order to get the judge to sign a search warrant.

That's just someone swearing an affidavit that he heard the guy make the alleged claim, right?

Thomas Gabriel's the guy who shut down NORAD with a laptop just to prove a point, and you think I'm scared of you?

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Why do airlines even have in flight entertainment still? Most everyone uses tablets, phones, or ipods to keep themselves entertained now. Who wants to watch an edited version of "Vampire Academy"?

Why do people still subscribe to the newspaper? I'd think it's along those lines, still some stragglers/older people who don't want to opt into the new tech.

I haven't even opted into newspapers yet. I still listen for the town crier.

 

[NCCommish]

Really stupid to have those systems connected in any way. Should be completely discreet.

 

[Ignoramus]

Really stupid to have those systems connected in any way. Should be completely discreet.

Yeah, I don't get why they're yelling everyone about this, either.

 

[[icon]]

Really stupid to have those systems connected in any way. Should be completely discreet.