United Bars Security Analyst From Flight Over Tweet About Hacking Aircraft

A security expert was barred from a United flight after he posted an ill-advised tweet about hacking the aircraft’s computer systems. 

United Airlines refused to allow security expert Chris Roberts to board his flight Saturday morning, just days after he tweeted about the hacking vulnerabilities present on some Boeing aircraft.

Roberts, a Denver-based cyber security expert for One World Labs, was on his way to speak at a conference in San Francisco about computer security issues when a tweet he posted aboard an earlier United flight triggered a security incident in its own right. USA Today reports that Roberts first ran afoul of the very security measures he researches while flying from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) on Wednesday. He was on his way to One World Labs’ Syracuse headquarters when tweeted:

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

— Chris Roberts (@Sidragon1) April 15, 2015

The computer systems that Roberts implied he would attempt to interfere with were all flight critical, including EICAS, or “engine-indicating and crew-alerting system.”

Despite the tweet’s flippant tone, both the FBI and United officials took it very seriously. Roberts was removed from his Wednesday flight by FBI agents upon landing in SYR. He was then detained and questioned for several hours before federal officials determined the security analyst was not a threat. Roberts later tweeted that the FBI seized his laptop computer and iPad devices before releasing him.

Lesson from this evening, don't mention planes….the Feds ARE listening, nice crew in Syracuse, left there naked of electronics

— Chris Roberts (@Sidragon1) April 16, 2015

Roberts admits his post may have been poorly thought out. “I was probably a little more blunt than I should have been,” he told CNN. “I’m just so frustrated that nothing is getting fixed.”

Later, after Roberts returned to Denver, United officials informed him that he would not be allowed on his Saturday flight to San Francisco (SFO), where he was scheduled to give a presentation at a major security conference.

United said the decision to ban Roberts was obvious. “He had made public statements about having manipulated airfare equipment and aircraft systems,” said United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson. “That’s something we just can’t have.”

Roberts ultimately flew to SFO on Southwest Airlines for the RSA conference. He will give a speech on security vulnerabilities of computer systems used in the transportation industry Thursday.

[Photo: iStock]