October 13, 2010 at 12:58 am
As far as I understood is that the situation was somewhat different to the headline and Ed Bott's article on ZDNet (which is one of the rebuttal articles linked on the main article) does a good job of explaining the reals story.
I think we should trust our co-workers in this wonderful game that is IT not to do the stupidest thing that we can think of, and maybe we should suspect journalists who are paid to sensationalise the news.
The amount of software engineering that goes into these things is phenomenal. Yes, silly things sometimes happen but that's why we test! No way is a highly professional IT Security expert going to allow a physical connection to exists between an un-secured USB port and the inner workings of a plane.
October 13, 2010 at 1:00 am
The linked blog entry says it was "The airline's central computer" that was infected, and not any on-board system. The result is the same, though, and any computer that can even indirectly affect flight security certainly should not allow easy introduction of malware...
October 13, 2010 at 1:36 am
Hi
Where did you read this? "The link is about a plane that supposedly had malware introduced into its computer network from a USB drive"
The trojans were found in a maintenance computer and not in any onboard system.
October 13, 2010 at 2:15 am
Bruce Schneier has had to retract the original contents of the blog post. Sorry, but the story is another internet myth that originally came from a Spanish newspaper. (See the discussion here http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4904992/) We need to wait for the official investigation to report to find out the cause of the accident. In the meantime, it is highly unlikely that a trojan was directly involved.
No worries, Steve, you're safe to fly.
Best wishes,
Phil Factor
October 13, 2010 at 2:22 am
That being said, it's still an interesting concept:
Touchscreen in the dashboard linked to both the stereo and sat nav...
iPod docking port linked to that computer...
I wonder where I can send my mother-in-law? 😛
-- Sorry - I'm referring to cars here!
October 13, 2010 at 2:48 am
Rest easy Steve, a quick perusal of comments added to the linked report will establish that malware was certainly not the cause of the crash, and that the reported infection was in a maintenance admin pc a couple of hundred miles away - not "... introduced into its [the plane's] computer network ..."
All the rest is press sensationalism enhanced by repetition.
October 13, 2010 at 5:46 am
"Perhaps I should take less trips" ('fewer' not less) ....."more and more computerizes"....
and the streak of consecutive days with a spelling or grammatical error continues....
October 13, 2010 at 6:24 am
Seriously?
October 13, 2010 at 6:54 am
Phil Factor (10/13/2010)
Bruce Schneier has had to retract the original contents of the blog post. Sorry, but the story is another internet myth that originally came from a Spanish newspaper. (See the discussion here http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4904992/) We need to wait for the official investigation to report to find out the cause of the accident. In the meantime, it is highly unlikely that a trojan was directly involved.No worries, Steve, you're safe to fly.
Actually, there are a lot of better, more disturbing reasons not to fly. I know someone who works for an airline, who won't fly, having seen too many pilots that are too tired, planes that are almost out of gas coming in, our local airport built the air traffic control tower in such a location that they can't see all of the runways, etc.
It's always a gamble. 😉
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"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
October 13, 2010 at 6:56 am
steve.neumann (10/13/2010)
"Perhaps I should take less trips" ('fewer' not less) ....."more and more computerizes"....and the streak of consecutive days with a spelling or grammatical error continues....
Lighten up! Or start writing daily editorials and let the rest of us pick on your writing.
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How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]
"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
October 13, 2010 at 6:57 am
jcrawf02 (10/13/2010)
steve.neumann (10/13/2010)
"Perhaps I should take less trips" ('fewer' not less) ....."more and more computerizes"....and the streak of consecutive days with a spelling or grammatical error continues....
Lighten up! Or start writing daily editorials and let the rest of us pick on your writing.
100% agree!
aka. *like* (facebook Styleeee)
October 13, 2010 at 6:57 am
Mike Toole (10/13/2010)
Rest easy Steve, a quick perusal of comments added to the linked report will establish that malware was certainly not the cause of the crash, and that the reported infection was in a maintenance admin pc a couple of hundred miles away - not "... introduced into its [the plane's] computer network ..."All the rest is press sensationalism enhanced by repetition.
My concern is not so much with this particular incident, but the fact that malware was in the airline maintenance network. I have no idea how they might connect a maintenance computer to an actual plane, but I suspect we will at some point. I also worry more about automotive systems being linked somehow and allowing access from outside, especially as we start to add USB or wireless access to those systems.
Our software engineering needs to be very good in these areas.
October 13, 2010 at 7:01 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/13/2010)
My concern is not so much with this particular incident, but the fact that malware was in the airline maintenance network. I have no idea how they might connect a maintenance computer to an actual plane, but I suspect we will at some point.
I would be very surprised if they didn't already - I bet they link a laptop or something when they land to collect readings from the sensors throughout the flight to avoid problems during the next flight!
I doubt they rely on a "low oil" warning light on the dashboard like some of us do in a car!
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