Las Vegas Aug. 13 (BUS): A digital vulnerability has been fixed in the computer systems used on some Boeing (BA.N) aircraft that could have allowed malicious hackers to modify data and cause pilots to make serious miscalculations, security researchers said Friday. .
Older versions of a digital tool used to calculate landing and take-off speeds on some planes could be tampered with by hackers with direct access to an “electronic flight bag,” or EFB, a tablet used by pilots to plan flights, and the cybersecurity firm Pen Test Partners said in a report.
“If a data modification occurs, and the resulting estimation errors are not detected during the required inspection or verification process by the crew, the aircraft could land on a runway that is too short, or take off at incorrect speeds which could result in a tail strike or runway flight,” he said. The report, which was presented at the DEF CON hacker conference in Las Vegas on Friday.
Boeing said in a statement that it was not aware of any aircraft affected by the problem, but had released a software update to address it.
“The potential for this impact to affect flight safety is extremely low,” Alex Lomas, security advisor at Pen Test Partners, said during Friday’s presentation. “Pilots are trained to handle unusual situations.”
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