Someone set up fake Wi-Fi network on a Delta flight
What's the story
A Delta flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta was recently the scene of a peculiar incident, when an unidentified passenger allegedly set up a fake Wi-Fi network. The development prompted the pilots to notify air traffic control. Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant confirmed that "[The] safety of flight was never in question and no aircraft operating systems were affected."
Network security
Investigation underway
Durrant further assured that the in-flight network wasn't compromised by the incident.
He said, "We are fully investigating to gather a complete set of facts, which will take time."
The spokesperson also noted that Delta would work with federal law enforcement and aviation regulators for a thorough investigation into this unusual occurrence.
Action taken
Flight crew took precautionary measures
In light of the incident, the flight crew disabled the aircraft's legitimate Wi-Fi network for about 30 minutes.
The pilots sent two mid-flight messages to air traffic control after learning about the fake Wi-Fi network.
They reported that a passenger had "created a scam Wi-Fi" intended to impersonate the airplane's real wireless network.
Passenger profiles
Possible connections to cybersecurity conferences
Interestingly, some of the passengers on the flight were attendees of cybersecurity conferences in Las Vegas last week. This has raised questions about their possible involvement in this incident. However, it is still unclear what exactly the passenger/passengers were trying to achieve with this act.
Network spoofing
How easy is it to set up a fake network?
Setting up a fake or malicious Wi-Fi network is not very difficult.
Commercially available tools like a Wi-Fi Pineapple, a hardware device designed for spoofing real-world networks, can be used for this purpose.
These devices are sold for professional security testers to audit companies' security or for hobbyists who want to learn how to hack.