Mystery at 30,000 feet: Who set up a pirate Wi-Fi and stole passenger details?
An unusual incident occurred on a Delta flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta. A group of hackers returning from a conference set up a malicious Wi-Fi network to steal passenger login credentials.
Source: Unsplash
When hundreds of hackers and security researchers board flights back from a conference like DEF CON, you can be sure it won't be quiet. However, an unusual incident on Delta flight 591 from Las Vegas to Atlanta managed to surprise even the flight crew and federal agents waiting on the ground. According to a report on the aviation blog View From the Wing, someone decided to continue their hacking activities in the air.
"We suspect they are trying to trick other passengers"
The flight crew sent the following message to ground services: "Notify security teams. We have a passenger on board who created a malicious Wi-Fi network. We suspect he is trying to trick other passengers. We have a group of passengers who took part in a cyber conference in Las Vegas who managed to block our Wi-Fi and broadcast one of their own."
The attackers created a network named Delta WiFi Fast. Once passengers connected to it, they were redirected to a phishing page requesting their Google account login credentials. This is a well-known technique called Evil Twin, designed to steal personal data.
Police and federal agents were waiting at the gate
According to one passenger, the attackers used dedicated hardware, such as a Wi-Fi Pineapple, to disrupt the legitimate network. It is estimated that they carried out a Deauthentication (Deauth) attack, which forces passenger devices to disconnect from the plane's official Wi-Fi. "After arriving at the gate, airport police and federal agents boarded the plane, questioned the suspects, and seized the hardware used for the attack," the passenger wrote.
It is important to remember that disrupting a Wi-Fi network is a federal offense under FCC laws, and operating a phishing page can lead to charges of fraud and identity theft. Delta confirmed the incident, stating: "An unauthorized Wi-Fi network, which was not provided or operated by us, functioned for a short time on the flight." The company emphasized that there was no breach of Delta's systems. The investigation is ongoing.
