Following the news that a flaw has been found in an in-flight entertainment system used by major airlines that could allow hackers to take control of a plane, Lee Munson, security researcher, Comparitech.com reacts:
"The new type of in-flight entertainment discovered by IOActive is certainly not for the faint of heart.
"If it’s true that hackers can access a plane’s controls through on-board passenger-facing systems, and it may well be given that researcher Chris Roberts has claimed similar vulnerabilities in the past, it represents a grave danger to passenger security that needs to be addressed immediately.
"Given the high-profile terrorist attack in Germany yesterday, people will be looking for answers to what could be a catastrophic lack of security and systems segregation in a mode of transport that has already been leveraged in the past to cause untold levels of tragedy.
"And, even if the ability to control the avionics of the craft is overstated, the fact that credit card details of frequent flyers may be at risk is something that all potentially affected airlines need to consider straight away."