Security News > 2023 > October > Now Russians accused of pwning JFK taxi system to sell top spots to cabbies

For a period of two years between September 2019 and September 2021, two Americans and two Russians allegedly compromising the taxi dispatch system at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to sell cabbies a place at the front of the dispatch line.

"As alleged in the indictment, these four defendants conspired to hack into the taxi dispatch system at JFK airport," said US Attorney Damian Williams in a statement.

The scheme represented an attempt to monetize the demand among taxi drivers for lucrative airport fares - the current flat rate for JFK to Manhattan is $70 plus additional charges.

The conspirators allegedly developed a plan to hack the dispatch system around September 2019.

The indictment [PDF] describes several approaches that were tried, "Including bribing someone to insert a flash drive containing malware into computers connected to the dispatch system, obtaining unauthorized access to the dispatch system via a Wi-Fi connect, and stealing computer tablets connected to the dispatch system."

The government's filing suggests that the group gained and lost access to the dispatch system several times.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/10/31/russians_nyc_jfk_taxi_hacking/