REPORT: Air Traffic Control At Serious Risk of Cyberattacks

A common plot device in action movies is for terrorists to seize control of the air traffic control system, so they can crash plans into the ground or into each other.

It's always seemed a bit far-fetched, until this week.

An alarming Government Accountability Office report finds that the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to take even basic steps to protect its air traffic control system from cyberattacks.

As a result, "significant security control weaknesses remain," and "these shortcomings put (air traffic control) systems at increased and unnecessary risk of unauthorized access, use, or modification that could disrupt air traffic control operations."

That, the GAO audit says, threatens the FAA's "ability to ensure the safe and uninterrupted operation of the national airspace system."

In addition to weak controls to prevent unauthorized access to ATC computers, the audit found that the FAA hasn't always tested security controls to make sure they work, didn't fully implement an agencywide security program like it was supposed to, and hasn't tested plans for restoring operations in the event of an attack.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

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