We reported on a story where a hacker claimed to have created an Android application that would be able to completely take over an aircraft. Hugo Teso, who is a security consultant and ex-commercial pilot, says his application would be able to make an aircraft “dance to his tune,” but the FAA has dismissed Teso’s claims today.
The FAA responded to Teso’s claims by saying the systems that are certified to be used on the flight decks are immune to the exploits that exist in a PC-based ACARS training software, which is what Teso tested his Android application on and not against systems inside of an actual aircraft. The FAA released a statement saying, The FAA has determined that the hacking technique described during a recent computer security conference does not pose a flight safety concern because it does not work on certified flight hardware.”
The statement continued to shed more light on how exactly Teso’s application would not be able to affect an aircraft. “The described technique cannot engage or control the aircraft’s autopilot system using the FMS or prevent a pilot from overriding the autopilot,” the FAA’s statement said. “Therefore, a hacker cannot obtain ‘full control of an aircraft’ as the technology consultant has claimed.”
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