Electronics Travel Ban: Reported Terrorist Plot Used Fake iPad As An Explosive

The decision by the United States and United Kingdom to ban laptops and tablets from some flights was made in response to a plot to plant explosive inside a fake iPad, according to a report from the Guardian.

The apparent plot was previously unreported, but would have used a counterfeit iPad that contained an explosive device to attempt to bring down a plane. Details including the date of the attempted attack, country of origin for the flight and details about the attackers have not been revealed.

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Word of the plot provides confirmation that extremist groups have continued attempts to find ways to smuggle explosives onto airplanes despite failed attempts to sneak improvised bombs on board hidden in shoes and underwear.

Attacks using modified electronics are not unheard of. Last year, a flight in Somalia was forced to make an emergency landing after a suicide bomber managed to blow a hole in the side of the aircraft using what is believed to have been an explosives-rigged laptop.

Fake devices are also readily available, especially in China where knockoff tablets and laptops run amok. The devices often have the same appearance as a name-brand device like an iPad but are nonfunctional or operate using an Android skin designed to appear like iOS.

Read: Judge Who Blocked Trump's Travel Ban Receiving Threats

While the threat may be real, the timing of the previously undisclosed attack using a tablet surfacing has been called into question as it comes in the wake of the Donald Trump administration’s failed attempts to ban travelers from majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

Fueling some of the speculation that the device ban on flights is agenda- rather than threat-driven is the fact the U.S. and U.K. have targeted flights from different countries in their restrictions.

The U.K. ban applies to inbound flights from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey, while the U.S. placed its restrictions on airports in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Other countries, including France, have considered joining the U.S. and U.K. in the bans, but have not yet moved forward to do so. The bans have been widely questioned and mocked online.