A security expert with N.Runs AG in Germany has revealed how a terrorist could take control of a plane using a smartphone.
According to jailbreakdaily.com the expert says such a breach of security would require a simple Android app to interfere with the aviation computer systems and communication protocols.
“The imagery of a terrorist is usually a mean looking guy with a host of weaponry. How about a geek holding an Android smartphone? Be really afraid!” said Hugo Teso, who is also a trained commercial airlines pilot.
Teso says such activity would need two new technologies, including creating an exploit
framework (SIMON) and an Android app (PlaneSploit) that can deliver messages to the flight management systems (FMS), an act he has demonstrated using a simulator.
He has also been able to interfere with the automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) used to guide aeroplanes and transmit vital information such as weather and traffic details.
The exploitation of the ADS-B comes months after Cyprus-based researcher Andrei Costin threw the aviation industry into panic after he showed how the ADS-B was not foolproof.
The security expert has also warned that the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) could also be penetrated. ACARS is used as a medium between aircrafts and controllers at the airport.
In the example of the ADS-B, Teso managed to select targets and infiltrate the onboard computer in a manner that he was able to send confusing messages that could make the plane “dance to his tune.”
By using SIMON the expert warns an attacker could take over the plane by uploading detailed commands and custom plugins to the remote FMS.
More worrying is that there is an app that is accessible to the public that has the powers of SIMON, called PlaneSploit, which can be used to in a real sense to ‘hack the aircraft’. The app uses the live flight tracker Flightradar24 and can be used to tap on any plane in its range.
The powers of the smartphone holder as demonstrated include crashing the plane, especially where old aircrafts are involved, with pilots more likely to regain control of modern aircraft.
