Hackers Access 10 Years’ Of Passenger Data In Air India Cyberattack

Hackers infiltrated Air India‘s servers, according to a Bloomberg report, which led to the data from 4.5 million fliers being compromised.

Passengers who’d registered between August 2011 and February of this year were compromised, along with their details such as credit card and contact information, as well as frequent flier data.

Air India first knew about the attack in February and has since taken “several steps” to investigate the issue and make sure the compromised servers were safe.

The notice from the carrier said there had been no “abnormal activity” detected after securing the servers.

The carrier also advised passengers to change passwords and make sure their data was kept safe.

With the breach, new concerns have sprung up following those early in the year about allegations that Chinese intrusions might have affected the operations at an important stock exchange and disrupted the power supply in Mumbai, which is the commercial hub in India.

In general, cyber attacks have become more prominent and dangerous since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Hacking groups have targeted research institutions in Japan, American government agencies, businesses and health facilities, and have adapted to prey on consumers’ confusion around the pandemic, and the general chaos surrounding the events of the past year.

India has been considering a new strategy to make the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure stronger.

Cyberattacks have become a top threat to global security, according to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. He said earlier this year that the lending and liquidity troubles fueling the 2008 crisis were less of an issue today than cyberhacking.

Powell illustrated his point by saying that large financial institutions could possibly lose the ability to track payments, which would grind part of the financial system to a halt. That leads to masses of money and time spent to stop that from happening. The 2008 factors were much less destructive in comparison to that.