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The pilots on the flight told the ground crew to alert corporate security as someone was tampering with in-flight Wi-Fi through ACARS, the digital communications systems airliners use for air-to-ground text communications. “Hey, alert corporate security. We have a passenger onboard that has created a scam Wi-Fi called ‘Delta WiFi Fast.’ We believe they are trying to scam the other passengers,” the pilots said in their first message. They followed this up 17 minutes later with, “No information as of now. We have a bunch of passengers that were at a cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. They were able to jam our Wi-Fi and broadcast their signal.”
While the exact details are unclear as the incident is still under investigation, the attacker (or prankster) apparently used a Wi-Fi Pineapple penetration testing device to launch Wi-Fi deauthentication attacks and then created an evil twin that other passengers could log into instead. This fake log-in page could have been used to harvest usernames, passwords, and other credentials. The plane was reportedly met at the gate by the authorities, although it’s unclear if any arrests were made.
Most in-flight Wi-Fi networks are unsecured, so a determined hacker could potentially use it for cyberattacks on their fellow passengers. Creating an “evil twin” network does not carry the same alarm, scandal, and potential lawsuit that a public network or device named “bomb” would on a flight , but it could still land you in hot water.
“Jamming” or interfering with in-flight Wi-Fi (or any Wi-Fi network, for that matter) is prohibited by the FCC [ PDF ], while the phishing log-in page could constitute wire fraud or identity theft. The passenger who created the fake in-flight Wi-Fi is also using social engineering, especially as more airlines adopt in-flight Wi-Fi and more passengers expect it, especially as they start switching to Starlink to provide reliable and fast internet.
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Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/passenger-returning-from-def-con-34-spoofs-delta-wi-fi-network-while-in-flight-using-pentest-tool-pilots-tell-ground-crew-to-alert-corporate-security-after-attendee-from-hacking-conference-brings-the-party-to-the-sky#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.