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Police allege ‘evil twin’ in-flight Wi-Fi used to steal info • The Register
(www.theregister.com)
Who hides in a Pineapple from the FCC?
EDIT:
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2024
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Privacy
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Australia’s Federal Police (AFP) has charged a man with running a fake Wi-Fi networks on at least one commercial flight and using it to harvest fliers’ credentials for email and social media services.
The man was investigated after an airline “reported concerns about a suspicious Wi-Fi network identified by its employees during a domestic flight.”
The AFP subsequently arrested a man who was found with “a portable wireless access device, a laptop and a mobile phone” in his hand luggage.
It’s alleged the accused’s collection of kit was used to create Wi-Fi hotspots with SSIDs confusingly similar to those airlines operate for in-flight access to the internet or streamed entertainment.
Airport Wi-Fi was also targeted, and the AFP also found evidence of similar activities “at locations linked to the man’s previous employment.”
AFP Western Command Cybercrime detective inspector Andrea Coleman pointed out that free Wi-Fi services should not require logging in through an email or social media account.
The original article contains 364 words, the summary contains 158 words. Saved 57%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
This sounds like it could be a combination FCC and FAA felony.
Oops, nope, I was thinking of the wrong country.
You can tell because it has a goatee.
They arrested him? What was the crime?? People connected to his network. Its not like he hacked their network.
emphasis added by me From the article:
The man was investigated after an airline “reported concerns about a suspicious Wi-Fi network identified by its employees during a domestic flight.”
It’s alleged the accused’s collection of kit was used to create Wi-Fi hotspots with SSIDs confusingly similar to those airlines operate for in-flight access to the internet or streamed entertainment. Airport Wi-Fi was also targeted, and the AFP also found evidence of similar activities “at locations linked to the man’s previous employment.”
Wherever the accused’s rig ran, when users logged in to the network, they were asked to provide credentials. The AFP alleges that details such as email addresses and passwords were saved to the suspect’s devices.
The charges laid against the man concern unauthorized access to devices and dishonest dealings. None of the charges laid suggest the accused used the data he allegedly accessed.
However three charges of “possession or control of data with the intent to commit a serious offence” suggest the alleged perp was alive to the possibilities of using the data for nefarious purposes.
Cybercrime is illegal just like stealing or committing fraud
Cybercrime is usually defined as unauthorized system access.
How is running a free WiFi AP a crime?
Because you are stealing peoples data and credentials.
So the airline is also comitting a crime?
They aren't stealing login data to my knowledge