The Department of Homeland Security issued an alert Tuesday warning that small aircraft are vulnerable to hackers that can gain physical access to a plane. It warned that a hacker can easily manipulate aircraft telemetry data, which can result in loss of control of the airplane.
The bulletin was issued after researchers at Rapid 7 released a lengthy report on the ease with which a malicious actor can gain access to an aircraft’s Controller Area Network (CAN) bus and hack it. A CAN bus is a piece of hardware used by automobiles and small aircraft that allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other in applications, in the absence of a host computer.
In its security alert, the DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency drew from the Rapid 7 report, stating, “An attacker with physical access to the aircraft could attach a device to an avionics CAN bus that could be used to inject false data, resulting in incorrect readings in avionic equipment.”
