DEF CON 33 - RF Village - Warflying in a Cessna, Part II -Matthew Thomassen, Sean McKeever
Source: YouTube · DEFCONConference · published Oct 22, 2025 · 24:42
The presentation demonstrates "warflying" - detecting Wi-Fi networks from a small airplane at 1500 feet, showing it's possible to map wireless access points from the air with specialized equipment like a Wi-Fi coconut 1:30.
Key Takeaways:
• The team used a Wi-Fi coconut device with 14 radios to monitor all Wi-Fi channels simultaneously, testing both whip and panel antennas mounted inside the aircraft 6:24
• Visualization techniques revealed that the aluminum fuselage blocks signals from the opposite side, requiring careful antenna placement 18:35
• When comparing war driving to war flying, they found that while driving detects more access points, flying detects them faster, with some overlap between the two methods 21:30
• Standard smartphones can be used effectively for warflying, making the experiment accessible to pilots without specialized equipment 23:12
The team plans to continue experimenting with external antennas and different orientations to improve their detection capabilities 23:49.
Sources:
- 1:30 Introduction to warflying concept and altitude
- 6:24 Explanation of Wi-Fi coconut device with 14 radios
- 18:35 Visualization showing signal blocking by airplane fuselage
- 21:30 Comparison between war driving and war flying
- 23:12 Finding about smartphones being usable for warflying
- 23:49 Future plans for impro
Generate CPE Credits
Generate a professional CPE document from this video's transcript.
Estimated credit: 0.5 CPE hours
Estimate uses the video runtime (1 hour ≈ 1 CPE, rounded to the nearest 0.5, minimum 0.5, maximum 2.0). The final amount can be lower after review, never higher.
Topic: Cybersecurity. Commonly maps to: Security and Risk Management, Security Operations. Exact CISSP domains are assigned during generation.
Free account. One generation at a time, with a daily limit.
CPEBuddy is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by ISC2, ISACA, or any certification body. Exports are formatted for common CPE submissions; acceptance is at your certification body's discretion.
Transcript Preview
First 800 characters of the transcript
Good afternoon everybody. I get to kick off the presentations for this afternoon. If you've ever looked up in the sky, seen an airplane, and thought, I wonder if they're trying to find my wireless access point, I'm here to tell you they might be. I'm Matt Thomasson and I'm here to present warf flying in a Cessna part two upping our game. I work with computers. My day job is security architect that has pretty much nothing to do with what I'm about to present. Um but I'm also a have my commercial pilot certificate with multi-engine and instrument ratings and airframe and power plant mechanic certificate. and I'm presenting on behalf of myself and my colleague Sean McKver who is not be able to be here today who is a cyber security researcher architect hacker race car driver when I say we I'm …