“If youre about to get on an airplane, you might want to wait until you land before you read this post. Because cyber security whiz Ruben Santamarta has devised a method that can give hackers access to a passenger jets satellite communications equipment through the passenger Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment systems*. And thats scary. Santamarta will present his research to the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas this week. Reuters says that his talk is expected to be one of the most widely watched at the conference. As with any of the announcements made at conferences like Black Hat, however, its important to realize that just because a security researcher can do it, doesnt mean evil hackers are doing it, too. Santamarta admits that the exploit wont necessarily work if hackers are trying to break into the cockpit during flight, but he is able to replicate it in a lab setting. Furthermore, since the specific details of the exploit wont be announced until Santamartas presentation later this week, were left guessing until then just how big of an issue this actually is. (Some of the details are included in a white paper Santamarta published earlier this year, however.) The cause for concern is clear, though. If Santamartas claims check out, the exploit affects some of the most common satellite communications equipment on the market. These systems are used not only in airplanes but also ships, military vehicles, as well as industrial facilities like oil rigs, gas pipelines, and wind turbines. The hack targets the equipments firmware and gives hackers the ability to manipulate the avionics system, which in turn could affect navigation. . . .
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 18:30:13 +0000
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