Air India Hack Exposes Credit Card and Passport Info of 4.5 Million Passengers

India’s flag carrier airline, Air India, has disclosed^[1]
a data breach affecting 4.5 million of its customers over a period
stretching nearly 10 years after its Passenger Service System (PSS)
provider SITA fell victim to a cyber attack earlier this year.

The breach involves personal data registered between Aug. 26,
2011 and Feb. 3, 2021, including details such as names, dates of
birth, contact information, passport information, ticket
information, Star Alliance, and Air India frequent flyer data as
well as credit card data. But Air India said neither CVV/CVC
numbers associated with the credit cards nor passwords were
affected.

The airline had previously acknowledged^[2]
the breach on March 19, stating that “its Passenger Service System
provider has informed about a sophisticated cyber attack it was
subjected to in the last week of February 2021.”

In March, Swiss aviation information technology company SITA
disclosed^[3]
it suffered a “highly sophisticated attack” on its servers located
in Atlanta, leading to a compromise of passenger data stored in its
PSS system. SITA PSS is used by many carriers for processing
airline passenger data as part of their frequent flyer
programs.

Air India data breached in a major Cyber
attack. Breach involves Passengers personal Information including
Credit Card Info and Passport Details. Other Global Airlines are
likely affected too.#airindia #CyberAttack @airindiain@rahulkanwal @sanket @maryashakil pic.twitter.com/XxUORgInJQ^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

With the latest development, Air India joins a long list of airlines^[12], such as Lufthansa,
Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines^[13], Scandinavian Airlines
(SAS^[14]), Finnair, Malaysia
Airlines, South Korea’s Jeju Air, American Airlines, and United
Airlines that have been impacted by the data security incident.

As part of its investigation into the event, Air India said it
engaged external specialists and that it notified credit card
issuers of the issue, besides resetting passwords of its frequent
flyer program. The airline is also urging users to change passwords
wherever applicable to thwart potential unauthorized attempts and
ensure the safety of their personal data.