33,000 feet above the Atlantic you want to enjoy your tomato juice and inboard entertainment and don't waste any thought on whether the innumerable systems and processes in the airplane actually work. Every satisfied passenger contributes to the success of the flight and that of the company.
A crew or workforce also relies on the installed technology. The smooth functioning makes work easier — both on the plane and in the sales of a company. Each flashing red light causes irritation or at least additional manual interventions. If the microwave breaks down, this may only lead to critical comments from the passengers or the staff. However, if, through deliberate action, the conversations between the cockpit and air traffic control are torpedoed or customer data is stolen, there is more than irritation.
Is this something that only pilots, flight marshals or airline management should be concerned about? No. The problem naturally affects all companies and institutions that are connected to the Internet in any way.
External attacks are no longer a horror vision. They happen. Every day. Many automatically and without a conscious goal, but behind some attacks there are concrete interests. And hackers have the possibilities to copy, change, or delete internal information. Every interface within an IT landscape can become the entrance door for uninvited visitors.
I'm not telling you anything new. Nevertheless, IT security often falls by the wayside. The reasons are various: They range from simple repression — “what could one do or steal from us”— to fear of costs and expenses, resignation — “nothing can be done anyway”— to unsystematic implementation. Often, it is also due to the poor communication between external IT experts and their customers. It seems that they sometimes speak different languages: here the specialist with his innumerable abbreviations and English technical terms, and there the end user who doesn’t understand a word.
Because IT security affects everyone, it must be transported in an understandable manner to everyone. The safety instructions before a flight are also presented in such a way that every passenger can at least understand what they may have to do in an emergency. There are many ways to prevent this emergency from occurring.
We would be happy to show you which ones — and who can help you with all these ways.
Yours sincerely,
Gordon Kirstein
