A ‘certain four-letter word’ sparked a security incident.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/47299437

United flight 236 from Newark to Palma de Mallorca on Saturday night was forced to turn around just an hour after takeoff due to security concerns around a Bluetooth signal. Multiple Redditors claimed to be on the flight and reported that the crew repeatedly requested passengers to turn off their Bluetooth. According to one poster, […]

  • Admetus@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    57·
    12 hours ago

    I mean, a 12 year old is more likely than not to name a cylindrical boombox a ‘bomb’ and forget about it. Hopefully a sincere apology will suffice instead of a ban or criminal charges.

    • KoboldCoterie@pawb.socialEnglish
      50·
      8 hours ago

      According to discussion about this elsewhere, there’s a bluetooth speaker model named ‘Bomb’ that defaults to that name, whose website, humorously, has been rate limited due to I’m sure more traffic than they’ve ever had in its entire existence.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      10·
      7 hours ago

      Honestly, I don’t see any way this could result in criminal charges. It’s a Bluetooth name, not someone actually threatening with a weapon. It’s like walking around with a fake gun. You can’t be charged with anything without actual intent to deceive people, and good luck proving that.

      At most, this is a civil charge. The airline might try to get some money out of this person.

      • fizzle@quokk.auEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        Naming a Bluetooth device “bomb” could absolutely be intentionally disruptive or threatening.

        Im not saying thats provable beyond reasonable doubt in this case.

      • chocrates@piefed.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        You can still be prosecuted for things you didn’t intend, the laws are usually less harsh. Manslaughter vs Murder for instance. I have no idea if a speaker whose name auto sets to bomb is illegal though. Seems dumb if it were

      • Atomic@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        4 hours ago

        It could absolutely result in a criminal charge. If it results in a criminal conviction or not is another question.

        But any prosecutor could make the argument that it’s a terroristic threat.

      • kunaltyagi@programming.devEnglish
        10·
        6 hours ago

        Poor chap. Chances are the person was flying economy. No way that person can give enough to recoup even the lawyer fees for the airline

        • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
          4·
          6 hours ago

          Yep. They might still try it to punish them/set an example. They’re not getting enough out of it to be worth it though, so odds are nothing happens.