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Pen Test Partners: Boeing 747s receive critical software updates over 3.5" floppy disks


From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2020 06:53:12 +0000 (UTC)

https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/10/boeing_747_floppy_drive_updates_walkthrough/

By Gareth Corfield
The Register
08/10/2020

DEF CON -- Boeing 747-400s still use floppy disks for loading critical navigation databases, Pen Test Partners has revealed to the infosec community after poking about one of the recently abandoned aircraft.

The eye-catching factoid emerged during a DEF CON video interview of PTP's Alex Lomas, where the man himself gave a walkthrough of a 747-400, its avionics bay and the flight deck.

Although airliners are not normally available to curious infosec researchers, a certain UK-based Big Airline's decision to scrap its B747 fleet gave Pen Test Partners a unique opportunity to get aboard one and have a poke about before the scrap merchants set about their grim task.

"Aircraft themselves are really expensive beasts, you know," said Lomas as he filmed inside the big Boeing. "Even if you had all the will in the world, airlines and manufacturers won't just let you pentest an aircraft because [they] don't know what state you're going to leave it in."

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