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Hacker on a Plane: FBI Seizes Researcher’s Gear

posted by martyb on Sunday April 19 2015, @04:18AM   Printer-friendly

AnonTechie writes us with a story that appeared in the security ledger: Hacker on a Plane: FBI Seizes Researcher’s Gear:

The FBI seized equipment from noted security researcher Chris Roberts on Wednesday, alleging that Roberts may have tampered with the systems aboard a United flight to Chicago. Roberts denies the claim.

Chris Roberts (a.k.a sidragon1), a leading researcher delving into the security of airplanes, was pulled off a plane in Syracuse, New York, on Wednesday by the FBI and questioned, apparently over concerns that he attempted to hack into critical systems aboard a United flight earlier in the day.

His laptop and a variety of external storage devices were confiscated by the FBI, which said it wanted to determine whether Roberts, an authority on security vulnerabilities in modern aircraft, may have accessed sensitive systems on a flight from Colorado to Chicago earlier in the day.

Roberts is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of One World Labs, a security research firm.

In response to mentions of his earlier research on Twitter, Roberts, using the @sidragon1 handle, had tweeted about his ability to hack into in-cabin control systems on the Boeing 737.

“Find myself on a 737/800, lets see Box-IFE-ICE-SATCOM, ? Shall we start playing with EICAS messages? “PASS OXYGEN ON” Anyone ? :)”

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday April 19 2015, @05:12AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Sunday April 19 2015, @05:12AM (#172729) Homepage Journal

    Even if you don't commit violence, it is commonly the case that it is unlawful to threaten it.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday April 19 2015, @08:04AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Sunday April 19 2015, @08:04AM (#172763) Homepage

    Unless you end the threat with a winky face. This guy's mistake was to use a standard smiley face.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 19 2015, @04:38PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 19 2015, @04:38PM (#172867)

      This was no different than smiling while you tell the TSA you have a bomb in your suitcase. The guy is an idiot for what he did and deserves a kick in the ass.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 19 2015, @04:47PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 19 2015, @04:47PM (#172871)

        Exactly.