Personal information of Akasa Air passengers, including details such as names, gender, email addresses and phone numbers, was allegedly leaked to “unauthorized persons”. The new Akasa Air did not begin commercial operations until August 7.
Trade standard reports that the airline sent emails to passengers who had booked tickets through its website, notifying them of the data breach. The publication also reports that Akasa himself reported the breach to Computer Emergency Response Team India (CERT-In), the nodal agency of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology which manages cybersecurity threats.
“A temporary technical configuration error related to our login and registration service was reported on August 25, 2022. As a result, certain Akasa Air registered user information limited to names, gender, email addresses and phone numbers phone may have been accessed by unauthorized persons. We can confirm that apart from the details above, no travel-related information, travel records or payment information has been compromised,” says the Akasa Air email, shared by a Twitter user.
The company said it stopped “unauthorized access” by completely shutting down system elements associated with the breach. He added that he had resumed the login and registration services after adding additional controls to remedy the situation. Akasa also added that it is undertaking additional reviews to harden its systems against such attacks in the future.
Looks like some kind of pax data breach @AkasaAir. Glad to see them proactively informing. #paxex #AkasaAir
Do other comrades #AvGeeks of the inauguration, also receive this e-mail last night @Vinamralongani @ShivamVahia @BrownPoints @gotravelyourway @thetrickytrade pic.twitter.com/ZRJrvgdTpE
— AJ (@OntheRoadAJ) August 28, 2022
“We wanted to make you aware of this situation and urge you to be vigilant against possible phishing attempts, as your information may have been accessed as a result of this incident.” the airline added in its letter to passengers, highlighting the potential risk of phishing attempts using the data that was leaked in the breach.
Billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a key investor in Akasa Air, died on August 14, just a week after the airline’s maiden flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
