Delta Probing Unauthorized Wi-Fi on Flight After Hacker Event

Delta Air Lines Inc. is investigating an unauthorized Wi-Fi network on a Monday flight out of Las Vegas, where a major cybersecurity conference was held over the weekend.

The US airline is working with federal law enforcement officials and aviation regulators to examine the activation of the network “for a short time,” said Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant. It prompted the flight crew to deactivate the Boeing Co. 757 aircraft’s Wi-Fi for about 30 minutes, but “there was no hack of any Delta system” and air traffic control personnel did not declare an emergency.

“Safety of flight was never in question and no aircraft operating systems were affected,” Durrant said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. “We are fully investigating to gather a complete set of facts, which will take time.”

Delta Flight 591 was traveling to Atlanta from Las Vegas the day after the Nevada city hosted DEFCON, which bills itself as the world’s largest hacking and security conference.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is aware or reports of a “potential Wi-Fi-related incident” on the flight and is in touch with local and corporate partners, said spokespeople for the bureau’s Atlanta office. They declined to provide further information.

Representatives for the Atlanta Police Department, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Transportation Security Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration and DEFCON didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Photo: Delta airlines passengers planes at LaGuardia airport in New York City. Photographer: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images