An unidentified passenger allegedly created a fake Wi-Fi network on a Delta flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta on Monday, prompting pilots to alert air traffic control, according to the airline and public broadcasts from the plane.
“[The] safety of flight was never in question and no aircraft operating systems were affected,” Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant told TechCrunch, adding that the in-flight network was not compromised.
“We are fully investigating to gather a complete set of facts, which will take time. We will partner with federal law enforcement and aviation regulators to ensure the incident is thoroughly investigated,” the spokesperson said.
The flight crew turned off the aircraft’s legitimate Wi-Fi network for around 30 minutes due to the incident.
Once the crew became aware of the fake Wi-Fi network, the pilots sent two messages mid-flight to air traffic control. The pilots said a passenger “created a scam Wi-Fi” that was designed to impersonate the airplane’s legitimate wireless network.
The pilots said they did not have any more information, but said some of the passengers came from cybersecurity conferences held in Las Vegas last week.
At this point, it’s unclear what the passenger or passengers were doing. It’s easy to set up a fake or malicious Wi-Fi network using commercially available tools like a Wi-Fi Pineapple, a hardware device designed for spoofing real-world networks. These devices are sold for professional security testers to audit companies’ security, or for hobbyists who want to learn how to hack.
The Atlanta Police Department referred questions to federal authorities. Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Steve Kulm said the agency has not received a report about the incident. The FBI did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.