ing concern, suggesting there is no guarantee whatsoever that the avionics systems would not be exposed to attack should an attacker have the right tools and access.
The concern lies for aircraft both in-flight and when stationary on the tarmac, and the FAA has stated it is planning to introduce rules that force cyber security certification of aircraft systems prior to deployment.
This is just talk at this stage and any capability is nothing more than nascent planning, not impacting the rapid introduction of highly connected in-flight technology.
Back to the question: are these concerns grounded in reality or are they more similar to a Steven Spielberg movie pitch to a Hollywood?
In an eye-opening presentation given to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), security researcher Hugo Teso said "in modern airplanes, there are a whole series of backdoors, through which hackers can gain access to a variety of aircraft systems".
Teso had earlier demonstrated how he would be able to hijack a plane using nothing more than his smartphone, albeit fully loaded with a toolkit of bespoke hacking tools that he created himself, with the primary exploitation tool dubbed PlaneSploit. The app reportedly takes over the plane’s autopilot, giving full control to the hacker.
More recently, a flagrant demonstration of security weaknesses being exploited during a flight was the Chris Roberts case, where a security researcher made headlines after hacking flight controls via the entertainment system and making the aircraft fly “sideways” for a short period of time.
Security problems stem from the underlying impulsiveness of businesses to be the technical trailblazers that lead with innovative new customer experiences. However, security is typically traded as a disabler of innovation, with executives accepting more risks without completely understanding the consequences.
Security, cost and usability are inextricably linked, meaning that if you decide to improve one, you can’t do it without considering the impact on the other two. If you increase your usability, you need to factor the additional security measures into your design, which invariably inflates the cost.
With cyber security issues such as these having the potential to take lives and inflict real harm, we need to tread cautiously and build safety and security measures into our systems from the beginning of the solution design lifecycle; the nature of the global threat environment we live in today demands it.