Malware Contributory Cause of Air Crash
This is a first, I think:
The airline's central computer which registered technical problems on planes was infected by Trojans at the time of the fatal crash and this resulted in a failure to raise an alarm over multiple problems with the plane, according to Spanish daily El Pais (report here). The plane took off with flaps and slats retracted, something that should in any case have been picked up by the pilots during pre-flight checks or triggered an internal warning on the plane. Neither happened, with tragic consequences, according to a report by independent crash investigators.
More here.
I have long thought that the Blaster worm was a contributing cause of the 2003 blackout in the U.S. and Canada.
EDITED TO ADD (8/23): In the comments, many readers point out that there are a bunch of problems with the El Pais article this is all based on, and that we should wait for more information before drawing any conclusions.
EDITED TO ADD (8/25): Two rebuttals, both worth reading.
Posted on August 23, 2010 at 6:03 AM • 45 Comments
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