Coin-Sized Device Can Feed Boeing 737 False Flight Data

A team of researchers from the University of California at San Diego and Oberlin College have developed a small device that can be used to spoof commands inside a Boeing 737's avionics system. The device, which costs less than $100, is roughly coin-sized and can be fitted through an exterior hatch on the plane in under a minute.

The researchers built a Wi-Fi-enabled prototype that plugs into a port reachable through a hatch on the outside of the aircraft. Once in place, the device can interfere with the plane's internal communications and send commands that affect the flight management system and what the pilot sees on screen.

According to Wired, the team spent over a decade building a test bed from Boeing 737 avionics parts bought on the secondhand market. They called their setup 'Triton' and used it to test what could happen without touching a live aircraft.

The researchers have found that carefully timed electrical signals with higher current can overpower legitimate messages on the bus connecting the Flight Management Computer and the Multipurpose Control Display Unit. This technique, dubbed 'Bus Driver,' allows the device to alter waypoints programmed into the autopilot, change inputs such as aircraft weight or outside air temperature, and keep some of those changes from appearing on the pilot's display.