If something that pops up on PPRuNe is enough to give an 'amateur' troublemaker the means to take over a plane, then it seems to me it's a vulnerable area that should be identified and dealt with. Airing it is only responsible - especially if the issue has been ignored by those in authority.
That point is well made and well taken. It just the manner in which these vulnerabilities are being aired that takes me aback. Very little of it is in a disinterested, cool, and rational , effort to move the ball down-field. Rather a lot of it is sensationalist, presumptive, and snippets that make the listener/reader feel as if he has gleaned a secret from the inner sanctum of knowledge.
In other words, I am all for the rational review and emendation of our procedures. It is the tawdry approach that I do not take a liking to...
As for another poster stating that you just pay money to learn? I would recommend a better reading of this forum and many of its threads. Not that it is post doctoral microbiology or physics, but there is a bit more to maneuvering an airliner than just a few sessions on the home computer...