FAA: Boeing's New 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack

How naïve of Bowing to think that there computer is not hackable:


http://www.wired.com/politics/securi...liner_security
Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet may have a serious
security vulnerability in its onboard computer networks that could
allow passengers to access the plane's control systems, according
to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The computer network
in the Dreamliner's passenger compartment, designed to give
passengers in-flight internet access, is connected to the plane's
control, navigation and communication systems, an FAA report
reveals...

According to the FAA document

http://frwebgate6.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=486816490816+0+0+0&WAISacti on=retrieve
published in the Federal Register (mirrored at Cryptome.org
http://cryptome.org/faa010208.htm), the vulnerability exists
because the plane's computer systems connect the passenger network
with the flight-safety, control and navigation network. It also
connects to the airline's business and administrative-support
network, which communicates maintenance issues to ground crews...

Out of the frying pan:


http://cs.schwab.com/clicker/cli?req...pkaaaaarcliw2r
10:00 AM 12/24/07

In-Flight Net Providers: Lessons Learned

Airlines and service providers seeking to deliver high-speed
Internet services to passengers say they've learned from Boeing
Co.'s 2006 decision to pull the plug on its ambitions to outfit
its planes with a similar service.

Analysts say Boeing's failed Connexion online service was costly
to install and operate, resulting in large expenditures before
getting a single paying customer. An industry wide downturn
triggered by the 2001 terrorist attacks made the system an even
tougher sell to struggling airlines.

Among other things, JetBlue Airways Corp., AMR Corp.'s American
Airlines and Virgin America are today turning to air-to-ground
connections to avoid Boeing's expensive satellite fees.

"We wanted to attack every one of the things that were inhibitors
in that first-generation system," said Jack Blumenstein, chief
executive of Aircell LLC, which is providing service for American
and Virgin.

JetBlue's LiveTV subsidiary paid the Federal Communications
Commission $7 million for wireless spectrum that one test JetBlue
aircraft has been using since Dec. 11 to communicate with about
100 cell towers spread across the continental United States.

The 1-megahertz frequency band allows that aircraft to offer free
e-mail and instant-messaging services on laptops and handheld
devices through Yahoo Inc. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion
Ltd.

Aircell licensed a band three times the size of LiveTV's for $31
million and plans to offer broader Internet services, including
Web surfing, for about $10 a flight _ what Boeing had charged for
the first hour. Pending regulatory approval, Aircell's first
Internet-capable flight is expected on American in 2008, using 92
cell towers on the ground. ...