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Fighting the

Invisible Enemy

THE MRO INDUSTRY HAS TO FOLLOW THE LEAD into in-flight entertainment systems made by
OF AIRLINES AND OEMS WITH A GREATER FOCUS Thales and Panasonic.
ON ADDRESSING CYBERSECURITY ISSUES It has been four years since Roberts made the
headlines and made the world aware of just
Arun Sivasankaran
how vulnerable the aviation industry can be to
cyberattacks, but companies have not been
In 2015, a cybersecurity consultant detained by the FBI said that quick off the blocks in trying to ensure the loop-
he had hacked into computer systems aboard carriers up to 20 holes are plugged. At an event in July last year
times, in the period from 2011 to 2014. He added that he had even at Tel Aviv University, Roberts said the aviation
managed to control an aircraft engine during a flight. The FBI, in industry lags behind the automobile industry
its search warrant application filed in the U.S. District Court for the in terms of awareness of cybersecurity risks.
Northern District of New York, said that Chris Roberts had “the “Boeing is in denial. Airbus is kind of on the
ability and the willingness to use the equipment then with him to fence. Some of the other industries are better,”
access or attempt to access the in-flight entertainment systems he added.
and possibly the flight control systems on any aircraft equipped
with an in-flight entertainment system.” Slow off the Blocks
The MRO industry has been, if anything,
According to the court documents, Roberts, who was detained by even slower than airlines when it comes to
the FBI after he tweeted while on a United Airlines flight about hack- addressing cybersecurity. While 67 percent
ing into the plane and possibly activating the emergency passenger of respondents to a survey of the industry by
oxygen masks, said that he connected his laptop to an electronic Oliver Wyman in 2018 said their company was
box underneath his seat, which controls the entertainment system, prepared for a cyberattack, less than half of
using a modified Ethernet cable. He claimed that he was then able them were able to say whether their company
to hack into the airplane’s computer nerve center. Roberts, who had conducted a cybersecurity review in 2017.
said his intention was to highlight aviation cybersecurity issues Worryingly, only nine percent of independent
and to improve aircraft security, told FBI officers that he knew MRO providers, 50 percent of airframe, engine,
of vulnerabilities aboard three types of Boeing aircraft and one and component manufacturers, and 41 percent
Airbus model. He added that he had been successful in hacking of airlines said they had introduced security

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