

The End of In-Flight Wi-Fi? - yan
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/11/the_end_of_in-f.html

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ja27
Please let someone discover a plot where they use screaming babies to set off
the bomb.

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doki_pen
Asking everyone to shut off their wifi hardly seems like a security measure.
I've often wondered, if cell signal and wifi really put the flight in danger,
then why is anyone allowed to bring a device with this capability on board?
Wouldn't a would be terrorist just ignore the order to shut devices off? It
doesn't make much sense.

~~~
trotsky
Presumably Bruce is envisioning a world where airlines refrain from providing
internet service on a plane to prevent a device from being triggered remotely,
not one where they provide wireless service but instruct you not to connect to
it.

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mechanical_fish
Has this actually happened anywhere or are we just trying the experiment of
getting the ridicule out there ahead of the policy?

(Which may be a sensible experiment, since after-the-fact ridicule has proven
to have little effect.)

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hyperbovine
Un-fucking-likely, Bruce. You mean after JetBlue, Virgin and all the rest tens
spent millions of dollars putting WiFi on their airplanes, TSA is just going
to undo that with a security directive?

Naah. It may or may not make sense from a sense from a security standpoint,
but I can _promise_ you that it will not happen. Not as long as big business
is still running the American government.

~~~
wh-uws
I have to disagree with you from "big business is still running the American
government" on this one. If this were so true in this case why bog down the
Airline Industry with the draconian TSA in the first place?

~~~
hyperbovine
Did you see what happened to the airline industry after 9/11?! (hint:
bankruptcy). It wasn't exactly good for business...

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edkennedy
Little does Schneier know about the TSA's plan to outlaw clocks on all
flights.

~~~
raganwald
Shhh! The TSA thinks the terrorists don't know that a clock at altitude
appears to run faster than a clock on the ground thanks to gravitational time
dilation. So clocks are safe until the terrorists figure out how to adjust.
Then we'll get all excited and lock the stable door after the horse has
bolted.

[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Gravitational...](https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Gravitational_time_dilation)

Remember: If we outlaw clocks, only outlaws will have clocks!

~~~
tomjen3
Great idea - if you arrive at your job on thyme, you must be a terrorists.

Be late, its the american way.

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nowarninglabel
<a
href="[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525951113?ie=UTF8&tag=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525951113?ie=UTF8&tag=nowarlab-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0525951113>Sounds)
like the plot of this book</a>

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jacquesm
Bad news for this guy: <http://haswifi.com/>

~~~
fname
Hah. Thanks Jacques. I've got the update ready, though:

UPDATE flights SET flight_haswifi=0 where id>0

~~~
jacquesm
Heh, that's a pretty laid back response. Bummer though if it turns out to be
true, I really hope they'll not be stupid enough to do this.

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xxpor
If thats really an issue, why don't they setup a system that makes you go
through a CAPTCHA before it will allow any internet access?

~~~
thyrsus
Why use the plane's internet when successful authentication to the (non-
advertising) wifi router embedded in the bomb is the trigger? Which is
probably less reliable than a timer or altimeter trigger, anyway, as I gather
from other comments. If you don't keep explosives off the plane, you've
already lost.

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DjDarkman
> Please, let's not ever tell the TSA about timers. Or altimeters.

I think this sums it all up.

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sabat
Given that this story is also on the current HN front page, I doubt the TSA is
going to try and enforce a WiFi ban anytime soon:

[http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/08/google-gifts-free-
air...](http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/08/google-gifts-free-airline-wifi-
for-the-holidays/)

