Air India confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber attack that led to the leak of the personal data of 4.5m passengers. The airline stated that the attackers managed to get their hands on information such as passenger names, addresses, contact numbers, and email addresses. While Air India has not yet revealed how the breach occurred, they have said that they are working with investigators and cybersecurity experts to determine the source of the attack. This is not the first time that Air India has been targeted by hackers; in 2016 their website was hacked and customer data was compromised. As a result of this latest attack, Air India is now urging all passengers who have flown with them in the past six years to change their passwords immediately. Sergiu Gatlan from Bleepingcomputer also explained this story. Let’s check this story on Star alliance 4.5m Februarygatlanbleepingcomputer.
Air India recently revealed its customers’ personal data had been leaked months after their Passenger Service System provider SITA was hacked. A staggering 4.5 million individuals were affected by the breach in February 2021 – an incident that has undoubtedly caused major privacy concerns for those involved.
Air India only notified customers about this cyberattack on March 19th, alerting them to the potential leak which was caused by an external entity.. It’s clear that robust security measures need to be implemented now more than ever as these unfortunate incidents continue to rise across industries globally.
What happened to Star Alliance members after data breach?
In early March, a data breach of SITA’s Passenger Service System (PSS) resulted in the personal information of passengers from 12 air carriers being accessed. Air India was among those affected and alerted their customers right away – with other related organizations also receiving notification quickly. To address this issue moving forward, SITA has committed to reaching out to all impacted PSS customers directly.
Several major airlines have recently been affected by a data breach, with passengers of Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and others potentially impacted. SITA spokesperson has confirmed the cyber incident which could put travelers’ personal information at risk.
The major response of Air India after the data breach
Air India is dedicated to protecting its passengers’ data, taking swift action in response to the security breach by launching a thorough investigation and strengthening their servers with external incident specialists. Additionally, credit card issuers were quickly notified and passwords for the Frequent Flyer program have been reset for added safety assurance.
Air india also told that “Further, our data processor has ensured that no abnormal activity was observed after securing the compromised servers. While we and our data processor continue to take remedial actions including but not limited to the above, we would also encourage passengers to change passwords wherever applicable to ensure safety of their personal data. The protection of our customers’ personal data is of highest importance to us, and we deeply regret the inconvenience caused and appreciate continued support and trust of our passengers.“
Actions that companies should take to prevent data breach
As the digital landscape evolves and cyberattacks become more sophisticated, it is crucial for companies such as Air India to take extra steps in order to protect their customers’ data. To ensure a secure environment, organizations must adopt best-practice guidelines and international standards while implementing an efficient encryption strategy that can help mitigate potential damage from any breaches occurring. It’s clear that tight security measures will be integral elements of success in today’s business climate.
Air India ensures the utmost security and privacy of its data by encrypting it while in transit or at rest. All key management operations are conducted solely within Air India’s fortified storage center, ensuring that third-party processors never have access to readable information nor encryption keys. Furthermore, clients can only gain access through rigorous multifactor authentication checks – thus providing an extra layer of protection for sensitive data systems maintained by Air India.
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