Potential hack for some Boeing planes fixed

Shutterstock [For illustration]

A digital vulnerability in the computer systems used on some Boeing aircraft that could have allowed malicious hackers to modify data and cause pilots to make dangerous miscalculations has been fixed.

Older versions of a digital tool used to calculate landing and take-off speeds on some aircraft could be tampered with by hackers with direct access to an “Electronic Flight Bag,” or EFB, a tablet device used by pilots to plan flights, cybersecurity firm Pen Test Partners said in a report.

“If data modification occurs, and the resulting miscalculations are not detected during the crew’s required cross check or verification process, an aircraft could land on a runway too short, or take off at incorrect speeds potentially resulting in a tail strike or runway excursion,” said the report, which was presented at the DEF CON hacker convention in Las Vegas on Friday.

In a statement, Boeing said it was not aware of any airplane that had been affected by the issue, but had released a software update to address it.

“The likelihood of this impacting flight safety is incredibly low,” Alex Lomas, a security consultant at Pen Test Partners, said during Friday’s presentation.

“Pilots are trained to handle unusual situations.”

More from Business News

  • OpenAI board rejects Musk's $97.4 billion offer

    OpenAI has rejected a $97.4 billion (AED 357 billion) bid from a consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk for the ChatGPT maker, saying the startup is not for sale and that any future bid would be disingenuous.

  • AD Ports Group reports net profit of AED 1.78 bln

    AD Ports Group has announced its preliminary unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 2024, and saw revenue increase 48 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to AED 17.29 billion.

  • Air Arabia reports record AED1.6 bln profit in 2024

    Air Arabia has announced its financial and operational results for the full year ending December 31, 2024, posting a record pre-tax net profit of AED 1.6 billion, reflecting a four per cent increase compared to AED 1.5 billion in 2023.

  • Sharjah to impose 20% tax on natural resource companies

    Sharjah is set to impose a 20 per cent corporate tax on companies involved in extractive and non-extractive natural resources, in accordance with a new law, it was announced on Thursday.

Blogs