Feds: Unlikely that man hacked plane’s engine

The government is rebutting the claims of a security researcher who says he briefly took over an airplane’s engine, as it investigates his story.

In an application for a search warrant revealed Friday, the FBI alleges that cyber expert Chris Roberts told agents he used the onboard entertainment network to infiltrate the computer system controlling the engines and thrust.

{mosads}From there, the bureau said Roberts claimed to have issued a climb command to the plane, causing it to briefly fly sideways.

That seems unlikely, said a senior law enforcement official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

“While we will not comment on specific allegations, there is no credible information to suggest an airplane’s flight control system can be accessed or manipulated from its in-flight entertainment system,” the official said in a statement. “Nevertheless, attempting to tamper with the flight control systems of aircraft is illegal and any such attempts will be taken seriously by law enforcement.”

The whole ordeal with Roberts started in April, when he sent a tweet suggesting he could hack into the network of his plane.

The FBI pulled him off the flight and questioned him. Two days later, authorities filed the search warrant in an effort to conduct forensic analysis of Roberts’ personal electronics.

Roberts was mostly mum over the weekend after the warrant was exposed.

He has previously told Wired he believes his statements made to the FBI might have been taken out of context.

“That paragraph that’s in there is one paragraph out of a lot of discussions, so there is context that is obviously missing which obviously I can’t say anything about,” he told the magazine.

Roberts has been trying to raise awareness for several years of the vulnerability of airplane networks.

Government agencies have been warning of the possibility that hackers could exploit an airplane’s onboard Wi-Fi to take control of the plane.

“Modern communications technologies, including IP connectivity, are increasingly used in aircraft systems, creating the possibility that unauthorized individuals might access and compromise aircraft avionics systems,” said the Government Accountability Office report, released in April.