Credit Card, Name, Phone Of Air India Customers Hacked! 45 Lakh Passengers Impacted

Air India and multiple other global airlines have been the victims of a major cyber attack, and the data of as much as 45 lakh users has been compromised.

The other airlines that have been impacted include Malaysia Airlines, Finnair, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific.

How did this happen? Read on to find out!

Air India’s Server Under Major Cyberattack: Personal Information Of Passengers Leaked
A statement has been issued by Air India which states that the data of 45 lakh users has been compromised. This has happened because the SITA PSS server of Air India, which is responsible for storing and processing personal information of fliers, has been the victim of a cybersecurity attack.

The data that has been compromised includes personal data that has been registered with the airline between August 26, 2011 and February 20, 2021.

Some personal information and details have also been compromised in this cyber attack. Details such as name, date of birth, contact information, passport details, ticket information, Star Alliance and Air India frequent flyer data as well as credit card data have been leaked.

Credit Card Details Of Air India Passengers Compromised?
However, the CVV or the CVC numbers havent been affected as they werent stored in the server that has been affected, as confirmed by the national airline.

In the email to the passengers, Air India states, “While we had received the first notification in this regard from our data processor on February 25, 2021, we would like to clarify that the identity of the affected data subjects was only provided to us by our data processor on March 25, 2021 and April 5, 2021. The present communication is an effort to apprise you of accurate state of facts as on date and to supplement our general announcement of March 19, 2021 initially made via our website.”

As per reports, the notification issued on March 19 is in reference to a data breach alert that was raised by Air India, when the airline’s Passenger Service System was subjected to a sophisticated cyber attack.

The passengers of Air India have been alerted to change their passwords wherever applicable in order to protect their sensitive data.