Should We Worry About Hacking in the Aviation Industry?

Please understand that my computer skills are pretty much limited to Photoshop, Excel, and Power Point so I am no expert on computers. However when it comes to aircraft I have over 40 years operational experience and due to several stories in the news recently, I thought I should at least give you my impressions of hacking aircraft as a possibility.

There is no doubt regardless of what aircraft and electronics manufacturers would like us all to believe, that the newer, completely computer driven aircraft can be hacked into. It has been proven several times ranging from kids to adults with weird hobbies.

Here is the thing, these newer model aircraft are not just airplanes anymore, they are flying computers. The pilot input (control) goes though a computer and then to the control surfaces of the aircraft, there is “NO” direct link between the two. This means that if anyone were to want to take over a plane's computer there is nothing a pilot can do about it except to maybe shut down the entire electronic system of the aircraft for a period of time, and I do not think anyone even knows if that will work.

Basically anytime anyone, (and anyone could with the right knowledge and equipment which they can buy on eBay) wants to take over an aircraft en-route somewhere the game is over. It is either going to get stolen, used as a weapon, or just plain destroyed for some nut job's thrill, and of course there are certainly none of those around..

I know the manufacturers say it cannot be done, but it has been done, even the military lost a drone to Iran exactly that way, and my guess is they are even more protected than the standard Airbus or the newer Boeings. So it can happen and no doubt will, the idea of building an aircraft that is a flying computer is so dumb on so many levels it would take a week to cover all the things that could, have, and will go wrong, and that is before you get to the pilots depending on all of the automation and have forgotten how to fly, if they ever knew.

Just remember when you are riding along at 39,000 feet enjoying the view, the only thing between that pilot and the control surfaces on that airplane is a computer and the good will of certain people. What cold possibly go wrong with that?

Finally computer hackers have been around since the internet and they hack into all kinds of things everyday ranging from private people's computers, to fortune 500 companies, and to governments all over the world. And if governments and big companies (who have the best security available) get hit everyday, why would Airbus think they are anymore protected from this inevitability than the US Government, banks, or private businesses?

Rick Eriksen