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DHS demonstrates airliner’s vulnerability to being hacked

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A Boeing 757 airliner was successfully hacked by a team of public and private security professionals, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official.

The team was given access to the airplane in September 2016 and in two days had accomplished a “remote, non-cooperative penetration,” Robert Hickey, aviation program manager within the Cyber Security Division of the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate said at a conference last week, according to Aviation Today.

Hickey said the hack was accomplished without having to physically touch the airplane or its systems using typical hacking tools and procedures. While the attack methodology and actual results are classified he did say it was achieve through radio communications.

The issue is mainly with legacy aircraft like the Boeing 757 and 737, which comprise the majority of the planes in the air, but newer planes like the 787 or Airbus A350 have cybersecurity built in.

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