[morbius]

IFE systems do show telemetry data from aircrafts' EICAS, though -- things like ground speed, altitude, temperature, etc.

I'm not sure on the specifics since Boeing has kept silent about the whole debacle, but I do wonder whether the IFE and avionics are airgapped on all aircraft, and whether you could exploit them if they aren't.

[ekimekim]

It's that very silence that makes me suspicious. Security through obscurity is only a reasonable defence if you know you are otherwise insecure. That said, it's also common when big companies have security concerns, valid or not.

[userbinator]

Boeing has stated that the systems are isolated in one of the linked articles about Roberts' case:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-18/hacker-cla...