Why Are Flight Booking Systems Susceptible to Attack by Hackers?

According to research conducted on the safety of flight booking systems, it has been revealed that basic authentication and security loopholes are available across key flight booking systems. It leaves flight booking systems prone to hacking attempts. Let us know more about it in detail.

What are the possible consequences of hacking?

After conducting a study on airline security, it has been seen that the 6 digits passenger name records are used for the storage of flight reservations. It is associated with the link to the names of customers, flight details, travel itinerary, phone contact, email contacts, credit card numbers, and travel agents.

A majority of fraudsters accomplish their objective by hacking the code used for several boarding passes to modify details of the flight and steal critical personal data of travelers.

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What is the underlying security loophole in airlines?

There are basically three key global distribution systems that are used for the efficient management of a vast number of travel reservations. These travel companies include Amadeus, Travelport, and Sabre.

All these three firms lack safe authentication. GDSs don’t provide primary authentication factors. In place of the booking code or PNR number, it is used for accessing and modifying information of the traveler.

With just the last names of passengers, hackers can find their PNR codes over the Internet easily. With the booking code of passengers, the researchers caution that hackers can get access to sensitive data, divert miles, and frequent flyer points, steal flights, and carry out phishing scams.

How can these security issues be solved?

Airline companies are required to assess their security and find all loopholes present in it. It should work with security service provider firms to address security issues that have been exposed and seek resolutions to potential issues.

The airline should provide travelers with an ability to find out who has accessed their personal information. They should be provided with an interface and valid permission to secure their PNR codes on their own.

Conclusion

Flight booking systems are one of the key industries for hackers to accomplish hacking attempts. Key travel booking systems do not have any proper authentication mechanism that makes it easier to hack the code for boarding passes.