Case Study Boeing 787 Dreamliner Network Security Final Draft

BOEING 787 DREAMLINER NETWORK SECURITY FINAL DRAFT
Institution
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BOEING 787 DREAMLINER NETWORK SECURITY FINAL DRAFT
Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a great aircraft of mid-size and wide-body that contains a twin-engine. The airliner was developed by its owner company that is Boeing Commercial Airplanes (McHale, 2005). It is the company’s most fuel-efficient airplane and was designed to be about 20% more fuel efficient than its predecessor Boeing 767 and for which it was intended to replace (McHale, 2005). The main unique features of the 787 Dreamliner include; it is equipped with electrical flight systems, has noise-reducing chevrons attached to its engine among many others. The aircraft was designed to give passengers in-flight internet access. The first Boeing 787 was unveiled in a colorful ceremony on July 8 the year 2007 at the Boeing’s Everett factory and has been operating in numerous air terminals across the globe.However after an investigation by the Aviation regulator in USA that is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it was noted that the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner passenger jet had serious issues that pertained security vulnerability in it`s on-board computer network systems. The regulator found the computer network systems of the aircraft allowed passengers to access the plane’s control systems and this would be a significant threat since it would make the plane’s control systems vulnerable to hackers as well as the intentional or unintentional corruption of data and systems (Croft, 2008).

The Federation issued Special conditions that are issued to new aircraft when they incorporate unusual design features. The special conditions included that; Boeing should demonstrate how it has addressed the question before being allowed to resume its flights. Boeing company admitted that it was aware of the issue and had generated a solution that it would test in due time (McHale, 2005)
Boeing addressed the issue by employing a combination of various technical solutions that included; physical separation of the two networks that is the plane’s and the passenger’s a technology known as creation “air gaps.” It also decided to use software firewalls that would block any unauthorized and malicious access to the plane’s network (Croft, 2008). The reason the Dreamliner had decided to interlink the computer network systems was aiming at combining the power of integrated communications and information systems to enhance operational efficiency as well as to increase revenue when the clients used their internet services, and it also helped to streamline airplane maintenance since it got feedback directly from the passengers.
Reference
Croft, J. (2008). FAA demands connectivity security for Boeing 787 control and information networks
McHale, J. (2005). AFDX technology to improve communications on Boeing 787.