Slashdot Mirror
Cyberattack Grounds Planes In Poland
itwbennett writes: While the alleged hacking of in-flight systems has been much discussed recently, "there are many more areas of vulnerability to address in the aviation industry," says Tim Erlin of security firm Tripwire. "Like most industries today, aviation relies on a wide variety of interconnected systems, from air traffic control to reservations systems." Case in point: LOT Polish Airlines was forced to cancel 10 flights scheduled to depart from Warsaw's Chopin airport on Sunday after hackers attacked its ground computer systems.
I'm not saying it is the right solution, but in many areas the individual is responsible.
If an airline tells a pilot to fly more than the legal number of hours in a week or they're fired, the pilot still loses his license if he complies. Of course, if they instead call the local regulator I suspect the airline will get a nasty visit from an inspector.
Engineers are legally liable if they sign off on an unsound building, regardless of the instructions of their employer.
The EU requires an EU citizen to sign off on the quality of imports of stuff like medical devices and if there is a problem they can go to jail. It is their responsibility to ensure that whoever they're working with is getting audited to ensure they are in compliance.
So, there are many areas of the economy where safety is critical and the solution is to make a particular individual personally criminally liable. It forces the buck to stop somewhere. That person is supposed to get a lot of clout with the regulators as well when they feel they're pressured to cut corners.