Boeing 737 Hackable with Coin-Sized Device for Under $100

Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Oberlin College have developed a coin-sized device that can hack into Boeing's 737 aircraft electronics. The device costs less than $100 to build and can be plugged into a maintenance port on the plane, which is accessible from the ground through an exterior hatch.

The researchers estimate that it would take only 60 seconds for an attacker to install the device, which can interfere with communications between the Flight Management Computer and the Multipurpose Control Display Unit used by pilots. This gives the device the ability to secretly change a plane's flight plan while preventing those changes from appearing on the pilot's display.

The researchers demonstrated scenarios in which hackers could cause the autopilot to divert the aircraft into another country's airspace or send it off course. They also showed that the device could manipulate information about the plane's weight, balance, and outside temperature, making a takeoff unsafe.

The Boeing 737 is one of the most widely used commercial aircraft in the world, with around 8,000 currently in service. The researchers first alerted Boeing to their findings in 2020 and continued working with the company over the next several years, but it's unclear whether any fixes have been implemented.

Boeing believes existing safeguards are enough to reduce any risks, saying that its technical experts are confident that the layers of protection in place on the airplane provide sufficient mitigation to limit the feasibility and risk of real-world attacks.