Lautenberg urges feds to probe remote hijacking concerns

Federal authorities have dismissed concerns raised by a security consultant who last week suggested that commercial airliners were vulnerable to remote hijacking by terrorists armed with little more than a smartphone and the right killer app.

But U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg doesn’t want to take any chances, and New Jersey's senior senator has written to the U.S. secretaries of transportation and homeland security asking them to investigate the threat and how to stop it.

“I am deeply concerned about recent reports that a German security consultant has found potential vulnerabilities in our airline security system that could allow aircraft to be remotely controled,” Lautenberg wrote in an April 13 letter addressed to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “Any technology that could be used to attack and exploit airline security software should be thoroughly investigated, and I urge you to take necessary steps to examine the veracity of this threat and address any deficiencies in our security systems that could leave any aircraft open to attack.”