Washington: In a claim that could send chills down the spine of air travellers around the globe, a US-based security researcher has told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he was capable of hacking into in-flight systems and issue commands that could cause a flying plane to move sideways.
The man named Chris Robert claims that he had hacked into the plane's systems 20 times between 2011 and 2014 and once also managed to issue climb command that resulted a sideways movement.
Chris Roberts, who is the owner of a Denver-based security intelligence firm One World Labs, was also thrown out of a United Airlines flight in April and was detained by the FBI after he posted tweets threatening to hack the plane while on board.
The FBI then seized his computer equipments, including a laptop, an iPad, and hard drives.
According to a CNN report, that cited a FBI document, Roberts “had the ability and the willingness to use the equipment then with him to access or attempt to access the in-flight entertainment systems and possibly the flight control systems on any aircraft equipped with an in-flight entertainment system, and that it would endanger public safety”.
Roberts told the FBI that he hacked into the plane's In Flight Entertainment (IFE) systems by connecting his laptop to an electronic box underneath his seat using a modified Ethernet cable. From there, he hacked into the airplane's computer nerve center.
Robert also claimed that the thumb drives that contained "nasty" malware, could be used to compromise computer networks, the CNN cited the FBI document.
Chris Roberts, who describes himself on Twitter as a researcher in “InfoSec stuff and actual/meaningful threat intelligence” has defended himself, saying his main motive has been to improve aircraft security.
Over last 5 years my only interest has been to improve aircraft security...given the current situation I've been advised against saying much
— Chris Roberts (@Sidragon1) May 17, 2015
