Hackers could exploit inflight entertainment systems to fatally sabotage the cockpit electronics of a new generation of airlines connected to the Internet, a US government report said.
It comes weeks after a copilot crashed a Germanwings Airbus A320 into the French Alps killing all 150 people on board, prompting talk of airlines one day being 100 percent automated.
Inflight cybersecurity is “an increasingly important issue” that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is just starting to address in earnest, the audit and investigative arm of the US Congress said.
“Modern communications technologies, including IP connectivity, are increasingly used in aircraft systems, creating the possibility that unauthorized individuals might access and compromise aircraft avionics systems,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said.
In the past, the electronics used to control and navigate aircraft — known as avionics — have functioned autonomously, the report said.
“However, according to FAA and experts we spoke to, IP networking may allow an attacker to gain remote access to avionics systems and compromise them,” it said.
In theory, firewalls ought to protect avionics “from intrusion by cabin system users, such as passengers who use inflight entertainment systems,” it said.
However, four cybersecurity experts told the agency that firewalls, being software components, can be hacked and circumvented “like any other software.”
The FAA has yet to develop regulations to make “cybersecurity assurance” for avionics part of its process for certifying new aircraft.
However, FAA officials told the GAO that cybersecurity is an increasingly important concern and that it is shifting its certification focus to address it.
Gerald Dillingham, co-author of the report, said the issue particularly affects a new generation of Internet-connected aircraft that includes the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350.
To date, there is no sign that any “bad actors” have successfully planted a virus or malware into an avionics system.
“We don’t have any evidence that this has occurred and we are hoping that raising this question will make it less likely to occur,” he said.
Last month’s Germanwings crash, in which the captain was reportedly locked out of the cockpit by his copilot, raised the specter of robots one day taking the place of humans at the controls to prevent a deadly repeat.
Responding to the GAO report, Airbus said it was “constantly assessing and revisiting the system architecture of our products with an eye to establishing and maintaining the highest standards of safety and security.”
“Beyond that, we don’t discuss design details or safeguards publicly, as such discussion might be counterproductive to security,” its Washington spokesman Clay McConnell said by e-mail.
In a statement to US media, Boeing said that its aircraft are delivered with more than one navigational system available to pilots.
“No changes to the flight plans loaded into the airplane systems can take place without pilot review and approval,” it said.
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