Delta Air Lines has locked the SkyMiles frequent-flyer accounts of everyone who was aboard flight DL-591 from Las Vegas to Atlanta on Monday, August 10, requiring affected passengers to complete secondary verification before they can access their accounts again. The move follows an apparent mid-air ‘evil twin’ Wi-Fi attack that prompted the crew to alert the ground.
According to reports, the flight had been delayed overnight from Sunday and departed Harry Reid International Airport at around 08:30 for the roughly three-and-a-half-hour hop to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International. During the flight, passengers reportedly returning from the Def Con 34 hacking conference in Las Vegas managed to broadcast a scam Wi-Fi network to fellow travellers.
In an ‘evil twin’ attack, a fraudster uses a portable device to broadcast a wireless network that mimics a trusted one, hoping to trick users into connecting. In this case, flight attendants reportedly noticed that a network named “DELTA WIFI FAST” had appeared in the list of available networks. Reports indicate the fake hotspot was paired with a de-authentication technique intended to knock devices off the legitimate service and steer them toward a phishing page.
The captain is reported to have sent an emergency alert to the ground, and the crew responded by disabling the aircraft's Wi-Fi for around half an hour while the situation was assessed. The flight continued safely to Atlanta, and there were no reports of injuries or any threat to the aircraft's safe operation.
By locking the loyalty accounts of everyone on board and requiring extra identity checks, Delta appears to be taking a precautionary stance in case any passenger credentials were harvested during the incident. Such secondary verification is a common containment step when a company suspects that login details may have been exposed.
According to reporting, the FBI's Atlanta field office has said it is looking into the incident, and no arrests have been announced. The episode has drawn attention precisely because it allegedly involved attendees of a well-known security conference, and because it played out in the confined environment of an aircraft cabin at altitude.
For travellers, the case is a reminder of the basic risks of connecting to unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks, whether on the ground or in the air. Security specialists routinely advise verifying the exact name of an airline's official Wi-Fi, avoiding networks that prompt for unusual logins, and being cautious about entering passwords or payment details on public connections.
Delta has not publicly detailed how many accounts were affected or how long the additional verification will remain in place, and the investigation is ongoing.
Sources: PYOK, The Hill. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By James Holloway.
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