I saw this article today, and what went un-reported is more frightening to me than what was.
In essence, Chris Roberts, a security researcher, was stopped from boarding a United Airlines flight because he had tweeted days before that it was theoretically possible to hack a plane's controls systems while in flight. (Actually, if you read the text carefully, not only was he prevented from boarding his flight, he had also been removed by the FBI from another flight, apparently shortly after the tweet.)
The article goes into detail about the warrantless confiscation of Mr. Roberts' laptop, but nowhere does the author bring up the point that the FBI and United Airlines both had information about his tweets. Why? ("How?" is a meaningless question these days.) Does the FBI monitor the social media of everyone scheduled to board, boarding or already aboard a plane? And just who does it pass information gleaned from them along to? Because if so, be careful sending any messages to someone named Jack just to say "Hi," especially while flying.
Finally, there's this little tidbit at the bottom of the article:
"The Government Accountability Office said last week that some commercial aircraft may be vulnerable to hacking over their onboard wireless networks. "Modern aircraft are increasingly connected to the Internet. This interconnectedness can potentially provide unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems," its report found."
Does this mean that everyone at the GAO is now on the no-fly list, or only those involved with that report?
And don't think the FBI doesn't know who they were.