Boeing 737 Blind Spot Could Let Hackers Redirect Autopilot or Sabotage Flight Plan in Under a Minute

Researchers found that brief physical access to a Boeing 737 maintenance connector could allow a device to interfere with flight-management data (Credit: antony whittaker/Unsplash)

A Boeing 737's flight-management systems can be tampered with in under a minute using a small hardware implant connected to an exposed maintenance port, security researchers have found, raising fresh questions over how brief physical access to aircraft is treated in cybersecurity.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Oberlin College built and tested a small hardware implant on a testbed made from genuine Boeing 737 components.