Its always bad news day for the Flying Turkey. The Project on (US)Government Oversight (POGO) has just issued a report on the security of the Turkey’s highly integrated software that enables the plane to fly and (according to its design specs) to be a potent fighter/fighter bomber.
Unfortunately if you read the POGO report, the plane’s software security has more holes than a sieve.
“As in previous years, cybersecurity testing shows that many previously confirmed F-35 vulnerabilities have not been fixed, meaning that enemy hackers could potentially shut down the ALIS network, steal secret data from the network and onboard computers, and perhaps prevent the F-35 from flying or from accomplishing its missions.”
It was reported in El Reg that “Testers could take control of weapons with “relatively simple tools and techniques.” In fact POGO reports that many items of software still use the manufacturers default password!
The simple measure of what percentage of aircraft could in theory be combat ready is a mere 26%! The figure for Britain’s Lightning is half that number!
All in all the readiness of this excuse for a plane is so bad that a Chris Grayling clone must of played a key role in its procurement!
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