Hackers have leaked passengers’ personal data, says India’s national airline Air India
- Air India disclosed the scale of the breach nearly three months after it was first informed by IT provider SITA Passenger Service System
- Air India said almost 4.5 million passengers globally were affected in the ‘highly sophisticated’ attack
Personal data of an unspecified number of travellers has been compromised after a company that serves India’s national carrier was hacked, Air India said.
The hackers were able to access 10 years’ worth of data including names, passport and credit card details from the Atlanta-based SITA Passenger Service System, Air India said in a statement on Friday.
It disclosed the scale of the breach nearly three months after it was first informed by the IT provider.
The breach that happened in late February had compromised the data of some major global airlines, too. SITA at that time had said that Singapore Airlines, New Zealand Air and Lufthansa were among those affected.
Air India said almost 4.5 million passengers globally were affected in the “highly sophisticated” attack but did not specify how many of them were its travellers. It said no password data was breached during the attack and that the company was investigating.
The company said it recommended in an email to its customers that they should change their account passwords as a precaution.