A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta after DEF CON is suspected of jamming the in-flight Wi-Fi and broadcasting an unauthorized network in what could amount to a federal offense. It seems like someone forgot the old truism "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

News of the incident began circulating late Monday when flight watchers spotted Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) messages from the crew of Delta Flight 591 indicating that something was up with the Wi-Fi and that they suspected a passenger was to blame. 

“HEY ALERT CORP SECURITY WE HAVE A PAX [passenger] ON THAT HAS CREATED A SCAM WIFI CALLED DELTA WIFI FAST WE BELIEVE THEY ARE TRYING TO SCAM THE OTH PAX,” the first notice read. Several minutes later, the flight crew followed up with a second message stating they had little additional info at the time, but pointing the blame at “A BUNCH OF PAX THAT WERE AT A CYBER CONFERENCE IN LAS” who “WERE ABLE TO JAM OUR WIFI” and broadcast their own signal. 

From there, the timeline and truth of the situation get a bit fuzzy, with accounts on social media differing as to what happened next.

A poster on X speculated that the culprit was trying to phish for passenger credentials by setting up the fake Wi-Fi network, while a Facebook post shared to Reddit claimed that the incident involved a deauthentication attack that kicked users off the legitimate network before bringing up their own, which included a fake landing page, possibly using a device like a Wi-Fi Pineapple, which can broadcast fake networks, perform deauth attacks, and the like. A commenter in a thread on the Hacking subreddit (linked above) claimed to have been at the terminal in Las Vegas and said the individual was doing the same thing to airport Wi-Fi.

The Facebook and X posts both claimed that law enforcement was waiting at the gate, though a post in the Delta subreddit included a comment from someone claiming to have been on the flight who didn’t see any police waiting at the gate. 

Regardless of what actually transpired once the plane landed, Delta Air Lines confirmed the incident to The Register.

“We are fully investigating to gather a complete set of facts, which will take time,” a Delta spokesperson told us in an email. “We will partner with federal law enforcement and aviation regulators to ensure the incident is thoroughly investigated.”

Delta further noted that the safety of the plane, crew, and passengers was never in question, and no aircraft systems were affected. 

The airline also told us that there was no hack of any Delta system, including the in-flight Wi-Fi, though it did confirm that an unauthorized Wi-Fi network was broadcast onboard the aircraft for a short period of time. Some of the confusion over the possible deauthentication attack may have come from the cabin crew deactivating the in-flight Wi-Fi for around 30 minutes due to the incident, Delta explained.

The airline reiterated that the flight was leaving following the wrap-up of Black Hat and DEF CON, suggesting it suspected an attendee was behind the bad decision. 

We asked the Atlanta Police’s airport division if it was involved at all, and a representative told us they were unaware of the incident. Atlanta’s Department of Aviation declined to provide any comment on the matter. 

Based on Delta’s comment, it’s not clear whether the incident involved deliberate interference with authorized Wi-Fi communications, but if investigators determine that it did, the penalties could be severe. According [PDF] to the Federal Communications Commission, intentional Wi-Fi blocking can violate the Communications Act’s section 333. A willful and knowing violation punishable under the Act’s general criminal provision could carry a penalty of up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.

If this wannabe hacker with a penchant for choosing the worst possible target in the world is stupid enough to have been caught doing this before (and let’s be frank - if you’re going to try jamming the Wi-Fi on a commercial airplane, you’re not that bright), that prison term could extend to up to two years. ®