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Security expert pulled off flight by FBI after exposing airline tech vulnerabilities
FoxNews.com ^ | April 17, 2015 | Malia Zimmerman

Posted on 04/17/2015 4:56:47 AM PDT by Timber Rattler

One of the world’s foremost experts on counter-threat intelligence within the cybersecurity industry, who blew the whistle on vulnerabilities in airplane technology systems in a series of recent Fox News reports, has become the target of an FBI investigation himself.

Chris Roberts of the Colorado-based One World Labs, a security intelligence firm that identifies risks before they're exploited, said two FBI agents and two uniformed police officers pulled him off a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 commercial flight Wednesday night just after it landed in Syracuse, and spent the next four hours questioning him about cyberhacking of planes.

The FBI interrogation came just hours after Fox News published a report on Roberts’ research, in which he said: “We can still take planes out of the sky thanks to the flaws in the in-flight entertainment systems. Quite simply put, we can theorize on how to turn the engines off at 35,000 feet and not have any of those damn flashing lights go off in the cockpit.”

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: airlines; chrisroberts; doj; fbi; foxnews; planethreat; planewifi; tsa
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To: nuconvert
How is what he did protecting the gov’t? I you don’t like the word ‘job’, fine...it’s his obligation.

No, it is not. As a private businessman, he is not under an obligation to work for free.

He is under an obligation to not do harm (for example, by selling the info to terrorist groups, or by publicly revealing the details of how to exploit security holes), but he is not under obligation to hand over the fruits of his labor to government officials for free (which seems to be what the government interrogators wanted)

41 posted on 04/17/2015 7:34:36 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: PapaBear3625

work for free.? The work was already done.

For your information, “ the government interrogators “ saw his tweet from onboard the plane. That’s why they interrogated him - just as they should anyone who does this.

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


42 posted on 04/17/2015 7:44:15 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: nuconvert
work for free.? The work was already done.

Most work is paid for after it is done. So what's your point?

Any action by the government which reduces his ability to get compensation from his work, is a "taking".

43 posted on 04/17/2015 7:56:29 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: null and void

No, the Feds don’t know squat. They simply have treat each threat as possible.

This is a bogus claim. Period. My airliner is shielded for EMI, and no part of my systems can be accessed without plugging into a encrypted data stream, which is only accessible through a single proprietary port physically located next to my left hip. Unhackable, just like every computer that is NOT attached to a network.

The Internet and wireless on my airliner is an after market setup that other than electrical power is completely separate from the actual aircraft systems.


44 posted on 04/17/2015 7:59:30 AM PDT by Tzfat
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To: PapaBear3625

The guy’s a jerk. Keep defending him


45 posted on 04/17/2015 8:05:02 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: Flick Lives

Yes we need to stop saying unbelievable everytime the evil US Fed Gov does something illegal or unconstitutional.


46 posted on 04/17/2015 8:55:05 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Flick Lives

It may be worse than that. It may not be incompetence. As this guy basically said, half the FBI is doing the right stuff to protect the public (with competence and integrity). The other half is doing its darnedest to sabotage that competence and integrity.

Covering up incompetence is one thing. Deliberately sabotaging an agency that is acting competently is another. The FBI as a whole seems to have a competent component that is acting with integrity, and a component at a higher level that sabotages the legitimate side.

If so, some Inspector General should get on it immediately, unless he/she was appointed by Obama in order to be part of the sabotage...


47 posted on 04/17/2015 9:25:03 AM PDT by butterdezillion (Note to self : put this between arrow keys: img src=""/ g g)
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To: EQAndyBuzz

“If you see something, say something.
Then, well arrest your ass.”


48 posted on 04/17/2015 10:18:54 AM PDT by Flick Lives ("I can't believe it's not Fascism!")
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To: Timber Rattler

The biggest security threat is we give an Arabic head hunter cult 1st amendment protection!


49 posted on 04/17/2015 7:37:24 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,)
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To: null and void

the pogroms continue


50 posted on 04/18/2015 6:48:26 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: Timber Rattler
Uncle Sam doesn't like having his incompetence exposed. <[> Like the two recent breaches at the White House itself.

Competency in government is at an ALL TIME LOW.

BULL$HIT and POSTURING are at an ALL TIME HIGH.

51 posted on 04/18/2015 7:32:58 PM PDT by VideoDoctor
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