A Transportation World Airlines aircraft that was forced to return to Los Angeles International Airport yesterday when all the passenger inflatable lap belts simultaneously inflated as the aircraft crossed over the coast yesterday was the victim of a cyberattack. “We have been notified by GeschütztesDF, a notorious German hacker, that she was responsible for the activation of the lap belts,” John Frye, spokesperson for TWA, told reporters; “She has demanded that a ransom payment be paid to Stasi Ehemalige to avoid having future flights similarly attacked.”
Johnathan Quest, the spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Inquiry, confirmed that Kate Libby, the hacker known as GeschütztesDF, was recently released from federal custody when a second federal trial on airline hacking charges based upon her part in the earlier WannaFly attacks resulted in a second hung jury. “She was released in New York just a little over a week ago and dropped out of sight within two hours of her release.”
Kate Libby (not related) from Dragonfire Cyber, reported that they were working with the FBI and the ECS-CERT on the investigation of the attack. “This morning our technicians found a vulnerability in the wireless test function of the electronics module of the lap belt system that allowed a specially crafted wireless signal to command inflate the lap belts,” Libby told reporters at a CI-SOC news conference this afternoon; “We have not confirmed that this vulnerability was exploited in the attack, but it is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed.”
Robotron Aero is working with Dragonfire to identify and fix the source of the vulnerability that was exploited in the attack. “Our technical staff is working on a fix for the vulnerability identified by Dragonfire,” Fritz Schmenkel, the Robotron manager for Aero division, “And we continue to look for other potential routes for yesterday’s attack.”
“Pending a solution to this problem, TWA is taking all seats that use the inflatable lap belts out of commercial service,” Frye told reporters this morning, “Fortunately, they are only currently being used in side facing seats in First Class on most of our aircraft, so we are not having to cancel any flights.”
Oscar Holmes, spokesperson for the Federal Airline Administration, reported that the agency has issued a safety advisory on the potential problem with the Robotron Aero lap belts. “We have told all airlines using the Robotron inflatable lap belts to stop allowing passengers in seats equipped with those lap belts. Replacements from other vendors that have been type certified for side facing seats can be used for up to 30-days without aircraft specific certification.” The FAA is continuing to monitor the investigation.
No comments:
Post a Comment