Demonstrated At A Security Conference In Amsterdam

A presentation made by German researcher Hugo Teso at a conference known as "Hack in the Box" in Amsterdam has sent a bit of a chill up the spine of some in aviation security circles.

Teso says that he has developed an app for his Android phone that would allow him to send false data to an airliner through unsecured ADS-B hardware or the airplane's ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), which is also an unencrypted system. Teso said he was able in laboratory conditions to take control of an airplane's autopilot through the ACARS system and program it to intercept another airplane.

Teso claims that his app, which he calls PlaneSploit (and which is not publicly available), and the code he developed called SIMON, could allow users to change a plane's course, make lights flash in the cockpit, or even cause the plane to crash, according to a report appearing in U.K newspaper The Independent online. He told Forbes that the app could modify "approximately everything related to the navigation of the plane. That includes a lot of nasty things."

The FAA is aware of these security holes and is reportedly working to make the system safe from cyber attacks.

(Image of representative FMS. Use does not imply any vulnerability)

FMI: www.hitb.org/