Will Boeing's 787 Be Safe From Hackers?

AP:

Before Boeing Co.'s new 787 jetliner gets the green light to fly passengers, the aircraft maker will have to prove that offering Internet access in the cabin won't leave the flight controls vulnerable to hackers and hijackers.

Boeing claims it has engineered safeguards to shut out unauthorized users, but some security analysts worry navigation and communications systems could be vulnerable.

"The odds of this being perfect are zero," said Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at the security services firm BT Counterpane. "It's possible Boeing can make their connection to the Internet secure. If they do, it will be the first time in mankind anyone's done that."

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[realitytrumpsbull]

Once upon a time, they built stuff that didn't have as many computers in it, before that they had no computers at all, and it turned out to be fairly reliable. You buy a car now, for example, and it has 6 computers in it. Computers that run computers that run computers. Maybe this is a good example of oversophistication? I guess if your cousin
works for the place where they make computer
modules then you might be more inclined to
add 5 or 6 more than you need, especially if
it costs more with em installed.

Airplanes fly because of the shape of the
wings, not because of the software. I'm more
worried about the nut behind the wheel like
with the drunk pilots they nabbed before they
took off than I am about computers...

[willo]

A better question might be: Will it fly?

[Sundialsvc4]

Although I am pretty confident that Boeing will have the know-how to secure their airplanes ... they already have to secure other types of airplanes ... I would caution travelers about another type of vulnerability that happens every day in airports: risks to their own computers.

If you take your "typical Windows box," where you just turn it on and there's no password prompt and you're (of course) an Administrator ... and your wireless device just snoops around and finds a network and automagically attaches to it ... why, it's a breeze, isn't it?

Well, no, that "breeze" you feel is because you left your barn-door wide open.

Both on the road and in the office, take simple steps to secure your computer from unwanted access -- especially with regard to file-sharing. All of these facilities exist in any modern operating-system, they're easy to use and well-documented on the manufacturer's web-sites. They all make "common sense," and the very slightest bit of awareness is more than enough to dissuade opportunists.

[therealredstateblues]

On a related note, over 40% of the componentry on Boeings new plane is being outsourced in asia. with all the recent safety and quality problems related to outsourced goods does this sound like the kind of airplane you want to be riding in?

[SirReal1]

It's as simple as this "If you network it, they will hack" (sorry Field of Dreams/Kostner).

Just take a look at the latest problem for the i-phone!