madison

Trojan cause of fatal air crash?

David Meyer ZDNet UK | August 20, 2010 7:07 AM PDT

Summary

The Spanair plane crash that killed 154 people two years ago on Friday may have been partly caused by malware, according to reports.

The Spanair plane crash that killed 154 people two years ago on Friday may have been partly caused by malware, according to reports.

The newspaper El Pais reported on Fridaycrashed just after take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport.

The mainframe was supposed to raise the alarm when three similar technical problems were noted, but did not do so due to the infestation, El Pais said.

For more on this story, read Trojan may have contributed to fatal Spanair crash on ZDNet UK.

Talkback Most Recent of 28 Talkback(s)

  • M$ lack of security could be deadly
    this is why every one should migrate to Linux ASAP to avoid other tragedies.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Linux Geek
    20th Aug 2010
  • RE: Trojan cause of fatal air crash?
    @Linux Geek
    Yes because where in the news article does it say they were running microsoft???? So what smart ass comment are you going to have if it turns out they were running linux?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    travis.duffy@...
    20th Aug 2010
  • The cause was a compromised windows system located on land
    @travis.duffy@...

    That compromised windows system was supposed to monitor the plane and issue malfunction warnings.

    Well... that plane was indeed faulty but the compromised windows system issued no warning.

    And consequences ensued.

    Windows is immensely dangerous people, you are playing chances each and every time you use it, how many times do I have to remind you?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    OS Reload
    20th Aug 2010
    • Flagged
  • What is MS's mainframe OS called?
    @Linux Geek
    From the ZDNet UK link in the article:
    Spanair's mainframe was contaminated with Trojans

    So Linux Geek, you seem to be all knowing when it comes to MS, please tell us what MS's mainframe OS is called.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NonZealot
    20th Aug 2010
  • RE: Trojan cause of fatal air crash?
    @NonZealot
    but they most likely originated from infected windoze PCs.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Linux Geek
    20th Aug 2010
  • Nowhere in the original source is the word mainframe used
    @NonZealot

    You are relying on a report based on a google translation from spanish to english. Not even the google translation uses the word mainframe much less the original which just says it was a "... computadora , situada en la sede de la aerolínea" (a computer located in the airline's HQ.)

    It was a land based windows system that did it Nonzi, windows kills!!!

    Live with it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    OS Reload
    20th Aug 2010
    • Flagged
  • Microsoft: The cause of all fatal diseases...
    @Linux Geek

    Chicken Little, the sky is falling...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    FiOS-Dave
    23rd Aug 2010
  • RE: Trojan cause of fatal air crash?
    Other reports say "A mechanic who checked the plane before take-off and an airport maintenance chief are under investigation and face possible manslaughter charges. "
    Who is going after the malware makers and those that provided the communication channel (botnet?) that infected the mainframe? Death would be too good for them!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Agnostic_OS
    20th Aug 2010
  • C'mon, those technicians probably just wanted some music while at work
    @Agnostic_OS

    unknowingly they inserted malware ridden flash drives with music on the monitoring PC which disabled the monitoring process. As a consequence of monitoring failure a faulty plane was considered OK and people died.

    Not their fault, blame the people who produce and sell sub standard equipment that uses a substandard OS like windows.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    OS Reload
    20th Aug 2010
  • RE: Trojan cause of fatal air crash?
    @OS Reload
    Where in the article does it state that it was a windows device??? Your wonderful linux OS is not immune to malware either.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    travis.duffy@...
    20th Aug 2010
  • @travis.duffy: Your myth creation efforts are simply laughable
    Windows takes a leading role in another tragedy. Big deal... we are used to it.

    Live with it, accept it and move on (that's what I did.) Unfortunately this was not the last such situation, there are many more windows induced tragedies in the making.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    OS Reload
    20th Aug 2010
    • Flagged
  • 2 sentences short?
    You direct us to a link at ZDNet UK that has only 2 sentences more than the story here? Is there a cut-and-paste limit I'm not aware of? wink
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bmgoodman
    20th Aug 2010
  • A new low
    This is a new low in click-bait reporting. Ewwwww.

    The computer - on the ground - were used to manually enter incident reports and then based on statistics recommend further investigation.

    The crash was pilot error. That much has been established. Now speculation (from the ABM camp) ensues that *perhaps* the computer had malware, and *perhaps* that was why an engineer didn't bother entering the reports in a timely manner. *Perhaps* if he had done so the plane would have been called in for a check-up. *Perhaps* that would mean that the pilots the next time would do things right?

    This is disgusting. Adrf!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    honeymonster
    20th Aug 2010
  • How quickly they forget
    @honeymonster
    Every time a trojan comes out for Linux or OS X, we are quickly reminded that trojans don't count.

    Cue the double standards...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NonZealot
    20th Aug 2010
  • ZDNet Gravatar
    OS Reload
    20th Aug 2010
    • Flagged

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