Wi-Fi network named 'mobile detonation device' grounds plane Australian airline QANTAS delayed a flight for two hours on Saturday after a passenger reported seeing a Wi-Fi network named “Mobile detonation device”. The passenger reported the network's name to crew, who in turn reported it to the captain of the 737, which was due to fly from Melbourne to Perth. The captain demanded that …
Because of course someone meaning harm would call the network "mobile detonation device" and not "Happy heaven finder". If that's all it takes to ground a plane, there's going to be a lot of late planes in the next few years. Hell, you could beam it in from outside the airport.
Maybe it's was not a prank, but the usual SSID of the device that was ironically granted to a phone with an history of exploding batteries.
Maybe the owner did not revealed himself for fear of being deported to Guantanamo Bay.
Don't blame malice when it's just genuine dumbness.
(As a side note, my own WiFi hotspot SSID is "NSA PRISM Station #42" for a decade now)
He's not a dickhead if he was a passenger on the plane, he'd be a moron.
A dickhead knows how to take an old cell phone (most likely a credit card/disposable phone), set it up and leave it behind on the plane when he departs.
You're also a moron if you're sure the person who did this was on the plane at the time it was noticed.
"The genius behind this prank succeeded in delaying his own flight for 2 hours. Well done!"
Who said it was his own flight? According to the news report, the signal could have been coming from the Airport lobby, or anywhere nearby, for all they know.
(TSA agent or baggage handler with a smartphone, anyone?)
is what I want (am going) to name my WiFi at home (haven't decided on the actual number yet). Have thought about doing it some time ago, but never could be bothered, but I need to sort out my network in any case.
Tinfoil hat needed though, to guard against ------->
(I wonder - do their tentacles reach into darkest Africa as well?).
Who needs terrorists when you have scaremongerers!
Terrorists try to induce political change by inducing terror.
Scaremongerers try to induce political change by inducing terror of terror.
The pilot's not afraid of a WIFI ssid, he's afraid of what scaremongerers might say about his failure to act on it.
It's a sort of symbiotic relationship between the Theresa May's and ISIS's of this world, they need each other or they have no purpose.
If people aren't afraid of ISIS then they can't cripple a country. For that they need ministers to impose oppression on their people. Likewise ministers need the terrorists to provide the excuse they need for their power grab.
This pilot should be admonished for holding up a plane for a wifi SSID, but instead the scaremongerers will cover his back by trying to induce fear... the "what if [terror]" cover.
Special delivery - it's a beumb:
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi2lbnGy73MAhWH6RQKHVaSD9EQtwIIGzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGLDvtpSC_98&usg=AFQjCNGDjMHIxkE5FJ7Xd-jIaFUOiYGMpg
"Also what was the guy that found this SSID doing with his phone turned on prior to take off.
Nawty, nawty."
Well, given that this flight was being operated by a Qantas plane featuring their new wi-fi based inflight entertainment service, and given that this service is advertised as being available "from the moment you board until you arrive at your destination" (see http://www.qantas.com./travel/airlines/wireless-inflight-entertainment/au/en#general), and given that the rules on switching stuff off completely have been significantly relaxed by many airlines in general, there really isn't anything naught naughty about it.
1 - The person who did it (although there's a chance they were not on the plane, or where on the plane and one of their mates did it for a laugh without them knowing).
2 - The captain delaying the flight for it.
3 - The people who demanded to get off thus causing further delays.
Well sort of.
1 - Yep, standard idiot. You get those, it's just life.
2 - Well yeah but if the steward has reported it to you, it's really difficult to just ignore it. Saying "please just show me the device so that we can see it's harmless and move on" seems a reasonable response (though of course it didn't work).
3- Yep, twats. Do you think that they wanted a refund or compensation or something? I just can't imagine asking to get off the plane over something like this. It's obviously not an issue and it's going to ruin several days of your life as you try to re-do your travel plans.
Yes, the person who did it is a twat, but I don't agree that the others are..
There could have been a bomb, the terrorists could have been attempting a double bluff , assuming people would ignore the "joke" SSID. Unlikely, but not a possibility the captain can afford to ignore. If he had ignored it and something had happened, at best he would lose his job. At worst, people could have died.
The same with the people getting off. If people think they are in danger, isn't it best to allow them off? Locking them in might induce panic. Also, if people have a reason to think they are in danger, isn't that a little more important to respect than the possibility of delaying others?
... is probably the kind of idiot who doesn't spoof their MAC address.
Determine the MAC address, look up the OUI, use WiFi tool on another mobile to look at signal strength.. could figure out which part of the plane it's in, and which type of device it's likely on.
So the OUI most likely tells you it's Samsung (21.4%), or Apple (13.9%) or Huawei (8.9%). Others less likely.
WiFi tool may help you isolate the direction to look in, but as others have pointed out, it may well have not been on the plane - just because some user spotted it, doesn't mean it had a decent signal, so may well have been coming from the terminal/departure gate area.
Even if it was in the plane, a nice metallic Pringles can shape like that quite possibly makes for decent coverage in a large area from such a device.
"Determine the MAC address, look up the OUI, use WiFi tool on another mobile to look at signal strength.. could figure out which part of the plane it's in, and which type of device it's likely on."
That's the 2 hour delay explained then. By which time the perpetrator had no doubt simply turned off his hotspot...
I wonder what the market - and pricing - would be for programmable SSIDs ? To be sold alongside whoopee cushions, itching powder and fake doggy doo ... ("What fake doggy doo ?").
I also wonder what laws would be used - or invented - to target the sale and use of such devices ?
Given how many obsolete WiFi routers there are out there (I have 7 BT 2-Wire jobbies myself) it's surprising would-be "terrorists" haven't already experimented with setting up incendiary wifi hotspots for the lolz.
If "Mobile Detonation Device" can ground a plane, surely "ISIS Recruitment Centre" could bring a city to a halt ?
AC, obviously ....
I work for a university whose buildings are spread amongst the town, rather than being safely tucked away on a leafy campus. Several years ago it was noticed that in one of the buildings you could pick up the pub across the road's free Wifi which had the word "F**k" in it. Somebody went to the pub and complained that this didn't give a good impression to visitors to the Uni, and could they change it please.
They promptly did, to "[University Name] GIVES SHIT DEGREES".
This is a true story.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
