WannaCry cyber hackers attack Boeing… raising fears passenger jet software could be crippled
One of the company's chief engineers is said to have sent out a memo calling for 'all hands on deck' after the apparent attack
CYBER attackers have reportedly infected Boeing with the WannaCry computer virus - raising fears passenger jet software could be hacked.
One of the company's chief engineers is said to have sent out a memo calling for "all hands on deck" after the apparent attack.
Mike VanderWel, chief engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplane production engineering, said: “It is metastasising rapidly out of North Charleston and I just heard 777 (automated spar assembly tools) may have gone down."
He also writes in the alarming memo, seen by the, that he is concerned the virus will hit equipment used in functional plane tests and potentially “spread to airplane software.”
Mr VanderWel also said: "We are on a call with just about every VP in Boeing."
He also emphasised that a “battery-like response” was needed, referencing a 2013 battery fire which hit 787 Dreamliner planes.
Boeing later issued a statement downplaying the hack.
It said: “Our cybersecurity operations centre detected a limited intrusion of malware that affected a small number of systems.
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“Remediations were applied and this is not a production and delivery issue.”
The malicious ransomware exploits a flaw in Windows software to gain access to a network and locks users out until they pay a fee - often in cryptocurrency.
It first surfaced in a worldwide cyber attack in May 2017.
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