Boeing 737 Hackable in Under 60 Seconds

Six researchers from UC San Diego and Oberlin College presented their findings on August 13th at the USENIX Security Symposium in Baltimore, revealing a vulnerability in Boeing's 737 aircraft.

The team discovered that an attacker could plug an implant into a maintenance port in the electronics bay, which has no lock or access control. This allows them to insert themselves between the flight management computer and the screen used by pilots, all within 60 seconds.

The device exploits a vulnerability in the ARINC 429 bus system, which carries communications between the flight computer and cockpit keyboard/display unit. By pushing more current than legitimate transmitters, it physically overpowers their signal.

This 'Bus Driver attack' gives complete interception of data exchange without cutting or splicing any wires. The implant can then add a waypoint to the programmed route, which would normally require pilot confirmation but is instead executed automatically by the autopilot.