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Boeing Hit By WannaCry Virus, Fears It Could Cripple Some Jet Production (seattletimes.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the raise-the-alarm dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Seattle Times: Boeing was hit Wednesday by the WannaCry computer virus, raising fears within the company that it could cripple some vital airplane production equipment. Mike VanderWel, chief engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplane production engineering, sent out an alarming memo calling for "All hands on deck." "It is metastasizing rapidly out of North Charleston and I just heard 777 (automated spar assembly tools) may have gone down," VanderWel wrote, adding that he's concerned the virus will hit equipment used in functional tests of airplanes ready to roll out and potentially "spread to airplane software." Indicating widespread alarm within the company at the potential impact, VanderWel said the attack required "a battery-like response," a reference to the 787 in-flight battery fires in 2013 that grounded the world's fleet of Dreamliners and led to an extraordinary three-month-long engineering effort to find a fix.

9 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Computer virus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No sir. It is not a computer virus.
    It is -once again, a Microsoft Windows virus.

    Call things by their names.

  2. NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Thanks again, NSA! Glad you had our backs...

  3. Not Enough Time by Bigbutt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hey you business types who moan about not enough time to test updates and that it takes away from software projects that will generate income?

    Pay attention.

    [John]

    --
    Shit better not happen!
  4. Should have used by AHuxley · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Microsoft to sell computer games about flying.
    Use a real OS that has real security for real work.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    1. Re:Should have used by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What makes you think any other desktop OS would be less vulnerably to ransomware? Security through obscurity perhaps.

      Let's say they were running Linux. The infection vector is usually a browser exploit or email attachment. Linux does nothing extra to prevent the user from executing code that Windows doesn't also do. Then the malware is running, and has access to the user's file, and any other files that the user has access to on the network. Again, Linux does nothing extra to prevent this.

      The virus spreads via exploits stolen from the NSA. Even assuming they are not zero-day and a patch is available, it's up to the organization to install that patch. If they were not installing Windows patches, why would they be installing Linux patches?

      No, the problem is not the OS. The problem is the IT staff not locking the system down properly. Just switching OS would not help them.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Should have used by kyrsjo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I doubt they are reading emails on a machine controlling a piece of machinery - these things are generally on a special "technical network" that cannot reach the internet directly. AFAIK these are true remote exploits, not user intervention needed. So yes, it is the OS's fault, and you are off target by blaming the user.

  5. Back-ups... Back-ups... Back-ups... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is why my back-up drives aren't connected to my computer 24-7. When I finish backing up stuff, I disconnect the drive(s).

    Come on people, you gotta be smarter than this by now.

  6. Re:Wanna die? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In what universe is an entire national medical system not the "wrong person?" If there was any way of getting at ransomware scammers, we would have deployed it by now.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...

  7. Should have patched by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since the NHS were admonished for not installing patches which would have prevented Wanacry in May 2017, Boeing really should have patched their systems by now.