Boeing must get FAA OK for 787 computer system

Before Boeing's new 787 jetliner gets the green light to fly passengers, the company will have to prove the plane's computer network can't be hacked.

Boeing has designed the 787 to allow airlines to offer passengers more in-flight entertainment and Internet options than it has with previous planes. Those new features and other aspects of the 787's computer network go beyond the scope of existing regulations, so the Federal Aviation Administration is requiring Boeing to show the new technology won't pose a safety threat.

In a "special condition" the FAA has ordered Boeing to satisfy, the agency notes that the 787 "allows new kinds of passenger connectivity to previously isolated data networks connected to systems that perform functions required for the safe operation of the airplane.

"Because of this new passenger connectivity, the proposed data network design and integration may result in security vulnerabilities from intentional or unintentional corruption of data and systems critical to the safety and maintenance of the airplane."

An FAA spokesman said the agency has been working closely with Boeing and is pleased so far. "We are always in constant communication and are satisfied with what they have provided," FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.

Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said the 787's aviation electronics "are not connected in any way to the Internet. Also, there is not any place where the passenger interface to the Internet shares hardware" with the plane's aviation electronics.

"There are multiple layers of hardware and software ... that ensures data cannot pass from the passenger entrainment network to the other, more secure networks on the airplane," Gunter said.

Special conditions are a normal part of the regulatory process aircraft makers go through to get their planes certified for flight. The FAA issues them any time new designs introduce safety concerns that aren't fully addressed in existing regulations.

Gunter declined to specify exactly how and to what degree the plane's computer networks are physically separated. "One of the things you do to ensure security is not talk about the protections in any great detail," she said.

Boeing has already completed all lab tests the FAA has ordered for computer security, Gunter said. Final approval will come after Boeing runs another set of tests during flight testing, scheduled to begin in March.