It's been over a week since the disappearance of the Malaysia Airline MH370 and, with little headway made, the fate of the 239 passengers on board the aircraft remains shrouded in mystery.
While many presume that the MH370 has crashed, what really transpired is confounding experts as search efforts for the Boeing 777 intensify.
Several theories have emerged over the past week, including that of the plane being hijacked for a 9/11 type attack on an Indian city. The latest theory, however, suggests that the MH370 may be a victim of the world's first ever "cyber hijack." According to British anti-terror expert Dr. Sally Leivesley, hackers may have taken control of the MH370 using a mobile phone or a USB stick.
Per Leivsley, hackers would be capable of altering the aircraft's speed, direction and altitude by sending radio signals to MH370's flight management system.
"It is looking more and more likely that the control of some systems was taken over in a deceptive manner, either manually, so someone sitting in a seat overriding the autopilot, or via a remote device turning off or overwhelming the systems," said Dr. Leivesley to Sunday Express.
The cyber hijackers may have been able to remote control the aircraft via something as basic as a USB stick or a mobile phone.
"A mobile phone could have been used to do so or a USB stick. When the plane is air-side, you can insert a set of commands and codes that may initiate, on signal, a set of processes," reveals Dr. Leivesley.
She also reveals that evidence suggests that the Malaysia Airline MH370 could have been taken over by an individual who has the necessary expertise and "a very sophisticated systems engineering understanding".
"It is possible for hackers, be they part of organized crime or with government backgrounds, to get into the main computer network of the plane through the inflight, onboard entertainment system," she said.
Dr. Leivesley's theory seems to have synchronicity with the revelations by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak that the last known recordings from the MH730's suggest that there was "deliberate action" to divert the aircraft.
However, whether the disappearance of the MH370 has any correlation with the "cyber hijack" theory is, indeed, anybody's guess.
