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A few days ago, I wrote about an incident on a Delta Air Lines flight. Now, the airline has temporarily restricted access to the SkyMiles® accounts of passengers who were aboard a flight where the unauthorized Wi-Fi hack was detected to add an extra layer of security while the incident remains under investigation.
The move affects customers who traveled on Delta flight DL 591 from Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) on August 10th. Before regaining access to their accounts, affected passengers must complete additional identity verification.
The flight drew attention after a wireless network resembling Delta’s onboard internet service briefly appeared during the journey. Airline crew members responded by disabling the aircraft’s Wi-Fi for roughly 30 minutes while the situation was assessed. Cybersecurity experts have noted that fraudulent networks (often referred to as “evil twin” networks) can be used to imitate legitimate Wi-Fi services in an attempt to capture login credentials or other personal information from unsuspecting users.
Delta has emphasized that there is no indication the aircraft’s operational systems were compromised and that the flight was never at risk. The airline has also said its own onboard Wi-Fi infrastructure was not breached. The incident occurred shortly after the DEF CON cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, although investigators have not established any connection between the event and the unauthorized network.
Anthony’s Take: Delta says it is cooperating with federal law enforcement and aviation regulators as the investigation continues. The airline has not disclosed whether any passenger accounts were actually compromised or whether the additional security measures are precautionary.
(Featured Image Credit: Delta Air Lines.)
(H/T: Paddle Your Own Kanoo.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
