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'Bomb on Board' Wi-Fi Network Causes Turkish Airlines Flight To Be Diverted (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the dispatch dept.

A Turkish Airlines flight from Nairobi to Istanbul was diverted after the detection of a wi-fi network called "bomb on board" that alarmed the passengers, the airline said on Thursday. From a report: In a statement, Turkish Airlines said the flight made an emergency landing at the Khartoum airport in Sudan, but the flight was safely resumed after security inspections on all passengers and the aircraft. Individuals can create personal wi-fi networks on devices such as mobile phones and name them what they want.

20 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by SensitiveMale · · Score: 4, Interesting

    First of all "Individuals can create personal wi-fi networks on devices such as mobile phones and name them what they want." Well, no shit.

    Second, they need to start prosecuting these morons that cause flights to be diverted. Idiots starting fights & generally being morons need to start paying for these infractions else it's a badge of honor. "Remember that flight a few years ago that had to land in Colorado? Yeah, that was me. Woooo-hoooooo."

    1. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by Drethon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      why would you want to criminalize someone for naming an access point?

      Why would you want to criminalize someone for yelling fire in a crowded theater, leading to a stampede that kills people? There are limits to most anything.

    2. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by v1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The minor action isn't what needs to be stopped, it's the extreme over-reaction that needs to be addressed.

      If I'm driving down the road and forgot to turn off my turn signal, and suddenly I've got road blocks and swat teams and snipers ahead trying to stop my car, we don't say "!ow guess he shouldn't have left his turn signal on, look at that huge commotion he caused, we gotta do something about those turn signals!" Yes the signal was a problem and you might want to do something about it, but it's the extreme over-reaction that really demands some examination, because there's no reasonable justification my turn signal should lead to an evacuation of two city blocks.

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    3. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by SensitiveMale · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's a childish joke, and nobody has ever been arrested for impersonating a federal officer because of it. And before anyone says the obvious joke, no, they are not the FBI either

      You're 100% correct. Now, the next time you're in a TSA interview make a few childish jokes about bombs and how you're carrying a package someone outside gave you.

      Time and place my man. Time and place.

    4. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by barc0001 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a huge difference between calling something "surveillance van" and "bomb on board". Since you don't seem to get it, I'll break it down for you. The first implies someone is watching. Ooo scary. The second implies that you might die in a fiery explosion, or as you fall from the sky when the plane is crippled. See the difference?

      If you still don't get it, do the following for a real-world education: Go to the bank and deposit two different deposits. On the first deposit slip's back write "FBI surveillance van", and on the second write "I'm carrying a bomb". The police will be happy to give you some percussive education.

    5. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by magarity · · Score: 2

      In the world we live in, imagine the lawsuits if there was a bomb. Yes, there wasn't.

      If there had been one, no one would ever know about witty the wifi name.

    6. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by pr0t0 · · Score: 2

      diverted after the detection of a wi-fi network called "bomb on board"
      Spotted the dumb-ass teenager.

      Listen up children. As totally unfair as it may seem, we don't always get to say (or print) what we want when we want. Most of the time, people will look at you as the annoying little prick that you are being at that moment. And that's fine I suppose. Who wants the world to be a better place anyway? But one of the areas that you absolutely DO NOT FUCK AROUND is commercial aviation.

      If you feel like pushing a boundary, do it somewhere else. Seriously. You and your parents may find out just how unfair the world really is at the cost of prison time or fines that will force you or your parents into a lifetime of servitude. And honestly, it can even be worse than that, like an air marshal whose wife just left him and decides to take it out on you by stepping on your neck to control you...killing you in the process. There would be no public outcry or lawsuit. No one would give one shit about your death if you "joked" about a bomb on a plane. The only possible outcome would be yet another ban on cell phones on airplanes.

      --
      I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
    7. Re: They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I work for the FBI, we do have these vans, and we do name them this. How little you know, child.

    8. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      Yes, and that includes over reactions by ignorant and paranoid S.O.B.s like them.

      Every city I've been in since wifi became common there are several networks named "FBI surveillance van". It's a childish joke, and nobody has ever been arrested for impersonating a federal officer because of it. And before anyone says the obvious joke, no, they are not the FBI either. (Out of curiosity as to who set up some of those I've tracked them down, most are university students.)

      This is true. But seeing "FBI surveillance van", (I've seen similar things myself in wifi scans) which poses no immediate threat, is different from being on a plane and seeing a SID that says "bomb on board". Planes are small, fragile, enclosed spaces that take significant time to get safely back on the ground. These things must be taken seriously. The cost of not taking them seriously is too high.

      A better example might be the sid "ImGoingToShootMyNeighbor". If I saw that pop up in my neighborhood, I'd notify the authorities. Sure, it might be a joke, but it might not be. And different from "FBI surveillance van", the phrase makes a direct threat, just as "bomb on board" makes a direct threat.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    9. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      why would you want to criminalize someone for naming an access point?

      Because they may name it "Armenian genocide" or "Kurdistan".

      So, my good neighbors, the Turks -i am a Greek...!-, have laws to prosecute (/persecute) anyone mentioning such (and much more) "anti-Turkish things". One great example is that women can not wear cloths colored in a way that if combined may resemble the flag of Kurdistan! And please remember: you may not be a Turk, not ever being in Turkey, but, if you publicize something about the Armenian genocide, you may end up with an international arrest warrant...

    10. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by eddeye · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The minor action isn't what needs to be stopped, it's the extreme over-reaction that needs to be addressed. If I'm driving down the road and forgot to turn off my turn signal, and suddenly I've got road blocks and swat teams and snipers ahead trying to stop my car, we don't say "!ow guess he shouldn't have left his turn signal on, look at that huge commotion he caused, we gotta do something about those turn signals!" Yes the signal was a problem and you might want to do something about it, but it's the extreme over-reaction that really demands some examination, because there's no reasonable justification my turn signal should lead to an evacuation of two city blocks.

      Your turn signal isn't a potential threat to human life. If you can't see the difference then you shouldn't be allowed to fly.

      What's the difference in these scenarios?

      • passenger tells crew "There's a bomb on board"
      • passenger hands crew a note that says "bomb on board"
      • passenger scrawls "bomb on board" in lavatory
      • passenger advertises "bomb on board" wifi network

      95 times out of 100 these are all nothing. But you have to check them out. When human lives are potentially at stake, you can't ignore such statements. Do you want your pilot / cabin crew to make the decision "Well it says there's a bomb, but it's probably just a joke. Let's ignore it."? No. It's their professional obligation to take all possible threats seriously.

      Now there's a 99.99% chance this was some idiot who forgot to change their default network name, or who was trying to be funny. Even so, you can't ignore it. If there's .01% chance the bomb is real - some deranged attention seekers advertise their intentions, hoping to get caught - you have to treat every potential threat as legitimate. Is getting to your destination a few hours later really worth risking hundreds of lives?

      There's a lot of bad security and overreaction in the world. This is not one of those times.

      --
      Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch.
    11. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

      "Very different", huh? Okay, do that in an actual airport. The nice policman will explain to you in great detail how different it is.

    12. Re:They need to start prosecuting these fuckers by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      why would you want to criminalize someone for naming an access point?

      Because they may name it "Armenian genocide" or "Kurdistan".

      So, my good neighbors, the Turks -i am a Greek...!-, have laws to prosecute (/persecute) anyone mentioning such (and much more) "anti-Turkish things". One great example is that women can not wear cloths colored in a way that if combined may resemble the flag of Kurdistan! And please remember: you may not be a Turk, not ever being in Turkey, but, if you publicize something about the Armenian genocide, you may end up with an international arrest warrant...

      The situation in Turkey is a real shame. At one point they were a democratic nation, knocking on the door to the EU, access to which would have ended up in being a firm democratic step into the middle east. Now they're held hostage by a tyrant and a one party state with more journalists in jail than any other country.

      Turkey is a real craphole at the moment (and I say this as someone who is a little bit Turk myself).

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  2. YCFS by cellocgw · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And I'm talking about everyone who thought the name of a network means doodley-squat.

    What's next, I name my network 'you need to take a dump' and everyone on the plane rushes to the toilets?

    --
    https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    1. Re:YCFS by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2

      I used to prank the neighbors by using "methlab" as the SSID. When I moved to Utah I changed it to "pornstudio". (There are too many meth labs around here.)

  3. Re:MAC Addr ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    No Kismet necessary

    Win32
    netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid

    OSX /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -s

    Linux
    sudo iwlist scanning

  4. Yeah, we need to be scared by Kludge · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, this was definitely scary because if a terrorist did put a bomb on board, we all know that the second thing he would do would be to make a wifi network called, "Bomb on Board", alerting everyone to it.

    Whew! Good thing they diverted the plane!

    1. Re:Yeah, we need to be scared by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Actually it wouldn't be the first time a terrorist had altered authorities to their bomb. Maybe they charged their mind at the last moment but didn't want to alert their partner, so passed a note to staff or wrote on the wall in the toilet.

      Other terrorists planned to phone in warnings, not wanting to actually kill anyone. The IRA did that.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  5. A friend does this on Virgin Trains in the UK by swb · · Score: 2

    Some of the trains/routes don't have wifi and he turns his hotspot on with "Virgin Trains Free Wifi" as the SSID. Then he tries very hard to suppress his own laughter when people start complaining about how the wifi doesn't work.

  6. Buy a drink for the guy in 6C by rocket+rancher · · Score: 2

    ...got *a lot* of margaritas for me and nothing but laughs from the crew when I showed the perplexed stew delivering all those drinks my SSID. YMMV.