United Airlines bumps GEO operators off fleet for Starlink Wi-Fi – SpaceNews

Space X’s Starlink Dish Hacked (purplesec.us)

In a bold move, United Airlines has chosen SpaceX’s Starlink wireless connectivity capabilities to power in-flight Wi-Fi connection for its millions of annual passengers. United announced that it would be equipping its international fleet with this capability which consists over of 1,000 aircraft by 2025. There are several carriers that provide wireless connectivity through Geostationary orbits (GEO) constellations; however, this marks a turning point where a constellation in LEO will be providing this new connectivity. Some aircraft in the United fleet will still be equipped with the industry leading GEO constellation, ViaSat. This move sparks an interest in not only the space realm, but the cybersecurity world as well. Earlier this year at BlackHat USA, a Belgian hacker was able to gain access to the Starlink network using a $25 device. This is an extremely scary thought to think that an easily accessible, commercial off the shelf (COTS) component could allow someone with ill intentions to gain access to an aircraft’s internet capability. It would only be a matter of time before a hacker would be able to use the connection to gain access to the aircrafts flight computer and software as well. The damage that can cause is pretty self-explanatory. Obviously, a system that is 100% secure is not achievable. At some point, the more layers that are stacked onto the firewall, the system will become very difficult to use. Although a move that I foresee many airlines around the world making, it is a little concerning that this connection can be hacked with a $25 device.