Phantom Planes in the Skies

I can barely imagine the panic with a non-responding -- can it respond when it's not there? -- plane in the sky, at least by the time a visual confirmation reveals the truth. In the post 9/11 world, airports were among the first strategic targets to get the funding necessary to protect against the threats fabricated in a think-tank somewhere. Money are wasted in this very same fashion on a daily basis, with no clear ROI, just established social responsibility and common sense security. Disinformation can always happen in sky, as "Flaw may lead to air chaos". From the article :

"Hackers armed with little more than a laptop could conjure up phantom planes on the screens of Australia's air traffic controllers using new radar technology, warns Dick Smith. The prominent businessman and aviator claims to have found another serious security flaw in the new software being introduced into the air traffic control system. He has challenged Transport Minister Warren Truss to allow him to set up a demonstration of the problem at a test of the technology in Queensland to show how hackers could exploit the automatic dependent surveillance broadcasting (ASD-B) system to create false readings on an air traffic controller's screen. The air space activist says he was told of the flaw by US Federal Aviation Administration staff."

Compared to a speculation I described in a previous post "Why's that radar screen not blinking over there?", these practices are highly natural to ELINT planes/warfare, and in the capabilities of experienced staff members as pointed out in the article. Everything is buggy, and so is the ASD-B system for sure, but the problem from my point of view, is the possibility for a "talkative leakage", and the procedures, if any, to internally report bugs like these, and get them fixed of course.
Phantom Warhawk image courtesy of Les Patterson.