Boeing 737 Hackable with $100 Device

A device roughly the size of a US quarter can take over the flight computers on Boeing 737s. Developed by researchers at the University of California San Diego and Oberlin College, this gadget can be assembled for $100 in parts.

The device slots into a maintenance connector inside the Electronics and Equipment bay under the plane's nose, where most of the plane's computers sit. This compartment has no lock, making it accessible from the tarmac itself without using a ladder.

The researchers tested their findings on the Boeing 737NG family, which accounts for over 95% of the planes still flying today. They found that the device can rewrite where the plane is headed while keeping the change off the pilot's screen.

Boeing has known about this flaw since 2020 and allowed the researchers to run their attack inside its own test facility in 2023. However, Boeing seems unconcerned, stating that a real attack would be difficult to succeed due to the protections built into the planes.