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United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

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Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#81

Someone needs to explain to me how the name of a Bluetooth device has any bearing on anything. Isn’t the real security not letting a bomb on the plane? Also, now anyone who wants to disrupt a flight can switch their WiFi or Bluetooth name to Bomb or “Free Palestine” and the flight gets disrupted? Get out of here.

There are simpler ways to disrupt a flight.

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#82
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3. The level of tech illiteracy combined with airplane security theater is an affront to all thinking people.

4. A normal level of risk aversion in one of the most risk averse industries If airlines ignored every threat that was “probably not” a real threat, they’d ignore all of them. It’s better to inconvenience a few thousand passengers than it is to kill a few hundred.

How many threats did actually turn out to be real to date? I couldn't find this being published. But how many threats did happen without any indication (only after the perpetrators tell). I can easily recalled maybe 3-4 incidents. So the issue here is do knowing threats really help?

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#83
post #41
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a bomb speaker: https://hellottec.com/product/bomb-portable-bluetooth-speake...

What kind of company doesn’t want to pay $5 per month for a paid workers plan for their website?

It probably worked fine until today, and will be back to working fine in a few days.

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#84
post #41
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a bomb speaker: https://hellottec.com/product/bomb-portable-bluetooth-speake...

What kind of company doesn’t want to pay $5 per month for a paid workers plan for their website?

Companies that focus on product and not “investor value” through nice looking working websites

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#85
What's to prevent terrorists from going through TSA, waiting in the scanning line when everyone is still going through, and then planting a bluetooth device into someone else's bag? I never open my carryon once I have packed it.

This reminds me of the SNL sketch where TSA employees had no answer for someone bringing two separate bottles of 3.9 ounces onto the plane.

I'm sure Sean Duffy, of Real World and now Sec of Transportation, will fix this.

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#86

Even if you discount the possibility of an intentional threat as silly, this could have been a warning from someone under duress. Turning around was the right move.

How does that scenario work? Someone's under duress because presumably there's a terrorist on board. He lets the crew know there's a bomb onboard. The plane turns around, and the terrorist... lets the plane land safely?

OK maybe the bomb blows up when it crosses some longitude, because this is like the movie Speed, and turning around means the plane never cross that longitude..

If you mean another type of duress, naming your device "plshelp-[seat number]" would be a hell lot more effective..

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#87
post #8

People prank others all the time with goofy names [1] (2014) So are we at the point where that will change and devices will have to just assign random sanitized dictionary names? "Connect to my 'apple horse bunny farm'" There are programs that can flood an area with tens of thousands of fake access points (scapy-fakeap) . Or thousands of drones for that matter. [2] [1] - https://observer.com/2014/03/park-slope-kiddie…

Pranks aside, this becomes remarkably scary when you think about all the ways that a malicious/compromised device could cause chaos.

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#88
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did Airlines start scanning Bluetooth devices?

Airlines have kept tabs on Bluetooth and WiFi hotspots as early as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 incidents (2016)

You'd think they would do this before taking off..

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#89
post #85

What's to prevent terrorists from going through TSA, waiting in the scanning line when everyone is still going through, and then planting a bluetooth device into someone else's bag? I never open my carryon once I have packed it. This reminds me of the SNL sketch where TSA employees had no answer for someone bringing two separate bottles of 3.9 ounces onto the plane. I'm sure Sean Duffy, of Real World and now Sec of T…

The same thing that is stopping them from suicide bombing the super crowded security checkpoint line before ID checks.

Nothing really.

Re: United Airlines 767 returns to Newark after Bluetooth name sparks alert

#90

A 16 year boy apparently named his Bluetooth speaker “bomb” and couldn’t turn it off, as it was probably in checked luggage. Woof.

You can't rename most Bluetooth speakers. "Bomb" was the name the selling brand gave the speaker. By making everyone turn off their Bluetooth, the kid whose speaker had turned on probably couldn't even see the device broadcasting the name. People linked to one by a company made Hellotec but Hama has a similarly named device, and plenty of other speaker manufacturers try to make a pun out of "boombox" by naming their…

Even better. The news made it sound like it was an intentional act (at best a prank) by the kid.

If it’s a commercial product doing it, I can’t even quantify the levels of facepalm involved.

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