Air Canada has confirmed a data breach that may have affected about 20,000 customers of its 1.7 million mobile app users.
The company said it had “detected unusual log-in behavior” on its mobile app between August 22 and 24, during which the personal information for some of its customers “may potentially have been improperly accessed.”
The exposed information contains basic information such as customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other information they have added to their profiles.
Passport Numbers Exposed in Air Canada Data Breach
However, what is worrisome?
Hackers may have additionally accessed additional data together with customer’s passport variety, passport expiration date, passport country of issue and country of residence, Aeroplan variety, better-known individual number, NEXUS number, gender, date of birth, and position, if users had this data saved in their profile on the Air canada mobile app.
The airline assured its customers that mastercard data saved to their profile was “encrypted and keep in compliance with security standards set by the payment card trade or PCI standards,” and thus, square measure protected.
However, Air canada still counseled affected customers to continuously monitor their credit card transactions and call their financial services supplier at once if they found any uncommon or unauthorized activity.
Reset Your Password
The company estimates regarding 1 chronicles of its 1.7 million people—or regarding 20,000 users in total—who use its mobile app might are affected by the safety breach.
Although presently, it’s not clear however the data breach occurred, if it absolutely was an instantaneous breach of Air Canada’s systems, or if it absolutely was because of the utilize of passwords from different sites, the airline encourages users to reset their passwords exploitation improved password tips, that says passwords ought to be a minimum of ten characters long and contain one image.
However, as a precaution, the airline has fastened down all 1.7 million accounts till all of its customers—even those whose data wasn’t exposed within the breach—change their passwords.
Air canada has contacted doubtless affected customers directly by email beginning August 29 to inform them if their account has doubtless been accessed by hackers improperly.