Unauthorized Wi-Fi network on Delta flight tried to scam passengers
Some passengers were flying home from a large hacker conference in Las Vegas.
Unauthorized Wi-Fi network tries to scam passengers on Delta flight | Image by Delta
More and more airline passengers are using Wi-Fi while flying inside an airplane. Some airlines offer this for free, such as JetBlue, Delta, United, American, and Southwest, although they might ask you to sign up to join a loyalty program or watch some ads first. Other airlines charge a fee between $8 and $10 a flight.
Unauthorized Wi-Fi network appears on Delta flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta
On August 10, an unauthorized and mysterious Wi-Fi network appeared on Delta Airlines Flight 591. The Boeing 757 was flying from Las Vegas to Atlanta, and some of the passengers on the flight were heading home following the end of DEF CON 34, one of the world's largest cybersecurity and hacker conferences.
The rogue Wi-Fi network was created to scam fellow passengers on the plane
Subsequent review of the messages sent by the flight crew to Air Traffic Control (ATC) revealed that someone on the plane had created a Wi-Fi network called "Delta WiFi Fast" created to scam fellow passengers on the flight. A second message from the flight crew mentioned that some passengers were flying back from DEF CON 34 and were able to jam Delta's Wi-Fi signal to broadcast their own message.
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A tweet from "Turbine traveler" on X theorized that a malicious device was being used to impersonate the legitimate Delta Wi-Fi network and was attempting to trick passengers into connecting their devices to the bogus Wi-Fi network. Once connected, phones, tablets, and laptops would be directed to bogus login pages that would help steal victims' website and app credentials (usernames and passwords) as well as other sensitive personal data.
By using the word "fast" is the description of the bogus Wi-Fi network, you can tell that the plan was to scam passengers. After all, those planning to connect to a Wi-Fi signal on the plane would be more apt to connect to a network that self-described itself as "fast."
Screenshot shows messages sent by the pilots of Delta Flight 591 to Air Control. | Image by X
The crew shut down the plane's Wi-Fi for 30 minutes
The cabin crew shut down the aircraft's Wi-Fi system for 30 minutes while they assessed the situation. No emergency was declared as the flight simply continued flying toward its destination of Atlanta, Georgia with 199 passengers and six crew members aboard.
A federal investigation is underway
Once the aircraft landed safely in Atlanta, authorities boarded the plane and questioned passengers. Delta also checked to see whether the aircraft operating systems were compromised, but there were no indications that it was. The airline itself was not hacked. The passenger(s) behind the attack, if caught, could be charged with committing a federal offense.
The investigation is ongoing, and the airline says that it will take some time to determine exactly what happened on the aircraft, and exactly who was responsible. Delta made it clear that the safety of those on the plane was never in jeopardy.
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