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Crashing an In-Flight Entertainment System

Posted by kdawson on from the stress-testing dept.

rabblerouzer writes "Hugh Thompson, who was interviewed by Slashdot on the dangers of e-voting, now has a cool blog entry on how he was able to bring down the gaming/movie console on an airplane. He calls it one of the most interesting examples of a software 'abuse case' he has ever seen." Fortunately the IFE system is totally disjoint from the avionics.

8 of 322 comments (clear)

  1. Go look up "fortune" or something by Dun+Malg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Fortunately the IFE system is totally disjoint from the avionics "Fortunately"? Hardly has anything to do with fortune. See, they made it separate on purpose. Might as well have said "fortunately the IFE system isn't connected to the pilot's brain" or "fortunately the IFE system isn't connected to the oxygen in the cabin", for all the fucking sense it makes.
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    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  2. Re:Not a big surprise by Detritus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't have to be an "attack", it can be something as simple as a stuck switch or a book placed on top of a keyboard. On an airplane, you have to consider the two-year-old who wants to play with the pretty buttons.

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    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  3. Hm. by JoshJ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not so sure I'd want to put my name out there as "the guy who brought down the computers on a plane". He'll be lucky not to land on the no-fly list, I think.

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    1. Re:Hm. by evilviper · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm not so sure I'd want to put my name out there as "the guy who brought down the computers on a plane"

      A sad commentary on the state of freedom in this country.
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      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  4. Re:Profit? by Burning1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Holy crapshit. I think you've found the missing "???."

    1. Steal underpants.
    2. Short sell fruit of the loom stock.
    3. Profit!

  5. Re:Err by ikkonoishi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    20.

    Since 100 is an average IQ then the opposite of a number 80 points above average would be a number 80 points below average.

  6. Re:There is a NAME for the bug... by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ``Dam lazy programmers not using Assert() these days... :)''

    Because we all know that the constraint that you got wrong in the actual code will be correct in the assert. Right? Right?!

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    Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  7. Long? by LFS.Morpheus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't you want to buy Fruit of the Loom, since the victims will have to buy new underpants?

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    The space unintentionally left unblank.