Originally Posted by
jrishaw
[Hi all, Network Engineer by career] Regarding a software hack:
I've worked on software for private jets, etc, and the only access points are direct (what we call) "thin net" direct connections.
The idea I've been reading that any passenger can access these, without having breached the cockpit, is absurd. Built-in plane security aside, even a compromise of a floor panel in the passenger area would require complete severing of wires - not to mention the obvious labor to even access the panel in the first place, and the tools to reassemble connectivity between the attacker and the jet.
This is paranoia, and should be put to rest.
I'm the furthest thing there ever was from paranoid, and will crush paranoia like a bug when I find it.
But as somebody with some insight into military cyber capabilities I can almost assure you that the only perfectly secure system is one with zero external connections, wired or wireless and that includes the power source. Military systems can, for example, insert malign code into a control system via an access point that's not even designed to serve as a comms device. Think about it, all you have to do is get the right trons to wiggle, and the trons don't care how you go about that.
The Iranians though the same way you do about their centrifuges
With all that said, the usual suspect bad guys wouldn't have the technical capacity, not even close. This sort of "black magic" attack would probably require a government entity...at least for now.