Kelly Jackson Higgins posted an August 9, 2018 article on the security too applied scientific discipline website DarkReading.com, amongst the championship above. For those of yous non familiar, the close elite too talented cyber hackers too security sleuths conduct keep been gathering every yr since 1997, inwards Las Vegas, Nevada, to verbalize over the latest cyber security threat landscape, equally good equally the latest applied scientific discipline designed to ferret out, mitigate, too foreclose hacks, equally good equally how to chop-chop reconstitute networks, restore trust, opposite engineer, too construct resiliency. This year’s 2018 Black Hat, which volition conclude this weekend, has already revealed how DeepLocker, artificially-enhanced malware, tin modify its signature too pattern, hides and/or goes dormant when it believes it may live on nether surveillance, too is essentially a digital version of a chameleon. I posted an article yesterday on this spider web log on DeepLocker, if yous desire additional detail.
Yesterday’s (Thur/Aug. 9, 2018) Black Hat Conference was highlighted past times a chilling description of how 1 cyber security proficient was lately able to successfully hack into a commercial airliner’s, in-flight, WiFi network. Ms. Higgins describes how Ruben Santamarta [an elite, cyber security expert] “was flying from Madrid to Copenhagen inwards Nov 2017 on a Norwegian Airlines flight, when he decided to inspect the plane’s WiFi network security. So, he launched Wireshark from his laptop too began monitoring the [flight’s] network.” Mr. Santamarta is Principal Security Consultant at IOActive.
Santamarta “noticed about weird things happening,” Ms. Higgins wrote. “First off,” she adds, “his internal IP address was assigned a public, routable IP address, too and therefore to a greater extent than disconcerting, he all of a abrupt noticed random security network scans on his laptop computer. It turned out the plane’s modern information unit, or MDU, was exposed too rigged amongst the Swordfish Backdoor; and, a router from a Gafgyt Internet-of-Things (IoT) botnet was reaching out to the satcom modum on the in-flight aircraft, scanning for novel bot results.”
“The IoT botnet code didn’t look to conduct keep infected whatever of the satcom terminals on the plane, or others,” according to Mr. Santamarta; “but, it demonstrated how exposed [vulnerable] the [in-flight] equipment was to potential malware infections,” Ms. Higgins warned. “This botnet was non prepared to infect VxWorks. So fortunately it was no threat to the aircraft,” Mr. Santamarta said.
Mr. Santamarta provided the Black Hat audience amongst additional details of “how he was able to exploit vulnerabilities inwards pop satellite communications systems that he had showtime reported inwards 2014,” Ms. Higgins wrote. “The flaws — which included backdoors, insecure protocols, too network misconfigurations — inwards the equipment behave upon hundreds of commercial airplanes, flown past times Southwest, Norwegian, too Icelander airlines. Satcom equipment used inwards the maritime manufacture too the military machine — were likewise affected past times the virus,” Mr. Santmarta warned.
Mr. Santamarta emphasized that “while the [these] vulnerabilities could let hackers to remotely wrest command of an aircraft’s in-flight WiFi, in that place are no [known] security threats to airplanes amongst such attacks. The laid on can’t attain a plane’s security systems due to the agency the networks are isolated too configured,” Ms. Higgins wrote. “But,” she added, “an aggressor could access non exclusively the in-flight WiFi network; but, likewise the personal [mobile] devices of the passengers too crew.”
Mr. Santamarta likewise “found flaws inwards satellite basis stations too antenna on ships, too inwards basis stations used past times the the United States of America military machine inwards conflict zones. It tin disrupt, intercept, too modify” satcom operations from the ground.”
“Meantime,” Ms. Higgins wrote, Mr. Santamarta “found a Mirai botnet-infected antenna command unit of measurement on a maritime vessel.:” “There’s malware already infecting vessels,” Mr. Santamarta warned.
I wrote an article terminal calendar month on the potential that a malicious hacker, or terrorist could deliberately crash a commercial airliner. My article was based inwards purpose on a articulation the United States of America Department of Homeland Security (DHS) too Pacific Northwest National Laboratory — a interrogation arm of the the United States of America Department of Energy — study that concluded that it was exclusively a thing of fourth dimension earlier a terrorist or malicious hacker could remotely hack into a commercial aircraft’s in-flight WiFi network too potentially, deliberately crash the aircraft.
After I posted that article, an experienced commercial airline airplane pilot from 1 of the major the United States of America carriers commented that “this could never happen. fifty-fifty if they hijacked the amusement system, all we’d conduct keep to produce is plough it off, or push clitoris the CB’s.” He added that “a airplane pilot tin ever override the autopilot organization too disconnect it 1 of several ways…take mightiness off it too its but non capable whatever longer. There conduct keep been several times I had to click off the auto airplane pilot because it wasn’t doing what I either expected, or wanted it to do. As of yet, nosotros don’t let artificial word into the cockpit too hopefully never volition but I’m sure in that place are gamers out in that place too moving-picture exhibit tykes concocting such notions.”
After receiving the comment above, I updated my article to reverberate this pilot’s observations; but, I added “I am non a airplane pilot too defer to his expertise — though the observation that “this could never happen,” oftentimes seems to surprise us inwards nasty ways nosotros did non envision or anticipate.”
My estimate is that the major airlines are close surely aware of this vulnerability; and, conduct keep probable been taking measures to mitigate and/or foreclose this sort of horrific event. But, how aware of this threat are the major unusual commercial airline companies?; and, are they likewise attempting to mitigate this threat? How far along are they? How big a occupation is this? This is 1 to a greater extent than argue it is of import that nosotros discovery the missing Malaysian commercial flight, MH370 which crashed somewhere inwards the Indian Ocean dorsum inwards 2014. While the possibility too potential for this sort of terrible deed has probable been substantially reduced since these master copy vulnerabilities were discovered about three/four years ago/or to a greater extent than — this threat has likely….not totally been eliminated. As amongst anything that is connected to the Internet, 1 must ever assume that your systems/networks tin live on breached/compromised. Assuming otherwise…..invites disaster, too a potentially nasty strategic surprise.
One other elephant inwards the room: How volition artificially-enhanced malware element into this sort of scenario. As horror author Stephen King 1 time wrote: “God punishes us for what nosotros cannot imagine.” RCP, fortunascorner.com
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