cKure Red

🛫A device the size of a coin could hack a Boeing 737.

Security researchers from the University of California San Diego and Oberlin College recently presented a prototype device that could hack a Boeing 737 in less than a minute. Their aim was to expose a blind spot in aviation security and to show how physical access hacking represents a practical threat. In a statement to WIRED, Boeing downplayed that threat. “Our technical experts are confident that the layers of protection in place on the airplane, including within the system design and the operating environment, provide sufficient mitigation to significantly limit the feasibility and risk of real-world attacks.” The researchers say, Boeing hasn't told them about any technical fix for the vulnerabilities they've discovered. That lack of an immediate security update for planes shouldn't be cause for panic or grounding aircraft, the security researchers wrote in their paper. “All of the authors of this paper routinely travel on Boeing 737 aircraft and expect to continue doing so,” the introduction of the paper reads. Words: Andy Greenberg Video Producer: Tamanna Sajeed