The DHS Hacked A Plane In 2016

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the agency was able to remotely hack into a Boeing 757 last year during a test. Should that scare us? The actual incident is still labeled as confidential by the DHS for obvious reasons, but according to Boeing, we shouldn’t be afraid.

Boeing says it was only able to tap into the plane’s communication systems, and not into the actual flight systems. So there wasn’t anything strange being manipulated remotely nor could the hack change the flight path, just simply the ability to hear communications.

According to one DHS agent, they were able to execute this hack without any confirmation or communication with the aircraft or the pilots of the aircraft. This begs the question: if the government can hack a plane, couldn’t a skilled hacker hack a plane? The common argument is that the Boeing 757 is a 1970s designed aircraft and it was never equipped for our current, modern tech driven world. Newer aircrafts have since added much more security defense systems.