News reporter in-flight hacking is why secure phones, tablets and laptops need to happen

Last week, the personal laptop of USA Today journalist Steven Patrov, was hacked during a three-hour flight from Dallas to Raleigh.

Patrov’s very own account of the events, published yesterday morning on USA Today, offers an insight into what actually happens when connecting devices to an unsecured Wi-Fi network, such as American Airlines GoGo.

Right after Patrov’s plane touched down, an anonymous fellow passenger approached the journalist, and asked to meet at the gate, where the mysterious man revealed to have hacked into Patrov’s email, and proved so, by mentioning Patrov’s interest in the development about the Apple/FBI feud currently ensuing, over data privacy and iPhone encryption, as well as a copy of an email sent by Patrov, during the flight. By admission of the mysterious hacker, every other passenger of that flight was also hacked.

The in-flight paid service offers Internet access to passengers, provided by GoGo, at the rate of $19 per flight, $14 for 24hrs, $12 for a two-hour pass, and $17 for four hours.

The high prices charged by GoGo and American Airlines for accessing the Internet, as Steven Patrov experienced last week, do not include any kind of security for the end-user, beyond what any regular coffee-shop patron should expect from free Wi-Fi. This was also confirmed by GoGo’s Vice President Steve Nolan, who, when reached by Patrov, responded by admitting that GoGo’s in-flight Internet service is “public” and operates in the identical way as any other Wi-Fi hot spot on the ground.

This is why end-to-end encryption for phones, tablets and other devices, including iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, as well as android phones and PCs could become the future, if Internet providers intend to continue charging a premium for wireless Internet access, whether it is on an airplane, or anywhere.