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"Hacking into a plane’s critical flight controls is at least theoretically possible on some new models, computer security experts told the GAO." Can someone ex

by philipn 11y ago

"Hacking into a plane’s critical flight controls is at least theoretically possible on some new models, computer security experts told the GAO." Can someone explain this? I've been asking knowledgeable people all day and haven't heard a good explanation of how this could be possible. Is the IFE system really on the same physical network as the flight control system on newer planes? Edit: the best commentary on this appears to be the comments section on this Schneier blog post from a few weeks back - https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/04/hacking_airplan.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/04/hacking_airpl... And here's an interesting puzzle: if these planes are sharing a SATCOM link between their IFE and control systems, is it even possible for it to be non-software-hackable?

cperciva 11y ago
Is the IFE system really on the same physical network as the flight control system on newer planes? I have no direct knowledge here, but I've heard from multiple sources that whereas past aircraft had air gaps between aeronautic and IFE systems, newer aircraft rely on a firewall to block traffic from the IFE side to the aeronautic side.
- damian2000 11y ago
  I've heard there's a one way (readonly) link from the aeronautic side to the IFE, which is used for sending the IFE a small amount of information, used to display the moving map and sensor values (altitude, temp, etc) on the seat back displays. I'm speculating, but this link could be for example some sort of legacy serial data link with only one TX->RX pin being used.
  - sokoloff 11y ago
    I'm also speculating, but in the case of it being a serial link (very common), it's probably ARINC-429 as that's the predominant standard in aviation low and medium (read: very low and low) speed data exchange. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARINC_429 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARINC_429 ) I find ARINC-429 to be quite elegant/pleasing as an engineer and impressive for the time of its creation.

by philipn 11y ago

cperciva 11y ago

Is the IFE system really on the same physical network as the flight control system on newer planes? I have no direct knowledge here, but I've heard from multiple sources that whereas past aircraft had air gaps between aeronautic and IFE systems, newer aircraft rely on a firewall to block traffic from the IFE side to the aeronautic side.

damian2000 11y ago
I've heard there's a one way (readonly) link from the aeronautic side to the IFE, which is used for sending the IFE a small amount of information, used to display the moving map and sensor values (altitude, temp, etc) on the seat back displays. I'm speculating, but this link could be for example some sort of legacy serial data link with only one TX->RX pin being used.
- sokoloff 11y ago
  I'm also speculating, but in the case of it being a serial link (very common), it's probably ARINC-429 as that's the predominant standard in aviation low and medium (read: very low and low) speed data exchange. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARINC_429 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARINC_429 ) I find ARINC-429 to be quite elegant/pleasing as an engineer and impressive for the time of its creation.