United
Airlines banned a security researcher from a flight after he tweeted that he
might be able to hack the aircraft's systems.
Chris
Roberts was due to fly from Colorado to San Francisco to talk at a major
security conference on Saturday.
Earlier, he
tweeted he thought he could deploy the oxygen masks on board.
Despite the
ban, United said: "We are confident our flight control systems could not
be accessed through techniques [Mr Roberts] described."
Mr Roberts
is the founder of cybersecurity firm, One World Labs that tries to find
vulnerabilities in IT systems and alert companies to them before they are
exploited by criminals.
Last
Wednesday, Mr Roberts was removed from another United flight by the FBI who
took his laptop away, and questioned him for four hours.
Chris
Roberts's tweet:
"Find
myself on a 737/800, lets see Box-IFE-ICE-SATCOM, ? Shall we start playing with
EICAS messages? "PASS OXYGEN ON" Anyone ? :)"
As part of
his job, Mr Roberts had given several interviews to the media in recent weeks
in which he commented on the possible weak points of airline systems. He told
Fox News:
"Quite
simply put, we can theorise on how to turn the engines off at 35,000ft
(10,668m) and not have any of those damn flashing lights go off in the
cockpit."
He also
told CNN that he could connect to a computer under his seat to view data from
the aircraft's engines, fuel and flight-management systems.
No threat
Asked why
United had prevented Mr Roberts from taking his flight, spokesman Rahsaan
Johnson said:
"Given
Mr Roberts's claims regarding manipulating aircraft systems, we've decided it's
in the best interest of our customers and crew members that he not be allowed
to fly United.
"However,
we are confident our flight control systems could not be accessed through
techniques he described."
US passport
and luggage in the hand of a traveller
Chris
Roberts was turned away at the check-in desk but was not told why he could not
fly
Asked why
United had refused to allow Mr Roberts to fly if its systems were not
vulnerable, Mr Johnson said:
"We
made this decision because Mr Roberts has made comments about having tampered
with aircraft equipment, which is a violation of United policy and something
customers and crews shouldn't have to deal with."
'Vital
ally'
United said
it would send a letter to Mr Roberts to explain its decision within the next
two weeks.
The
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) which campaigns for greater openness and
transparency online and represents Mr Roberts said:
"It is
disappointing that United refused to allow him to board, and we hope that
United learns that computer security researchers are a vital ally, not a
threat."
EFF lawyer
Nate Cardozo said on Sunday that he hadn't seen a copy of the search warrant
that would have been used to seize Mr Roberts's electronics, and that he was
working to get the devices returned to him.
