It seems that Air Canada are having a few problems – with a report from the company that their has been an attack via their mobile app.
The airline detected unusual login behaviour with Air Canada’s mobile App between Aug. 22-24, 2018. It took action to block these attempts and implemented additional protocols to protect against further unauthorized attempts.
According to Globalnew.ca, 20,000 accounts may have been compromised by the data breach.
Air Canada have implemented an additional security precaution – forcing a password change on all users of the app (around 1.7 million users) to protect customer data.
Here’s the email you get if your account has NOT been compromised.
In English…
In French…
Note that password change has been changed to a minimum of 10 characters, with at least 1 uppercase letter, 1 number, 1 symbol/special character, 1 lowercase letter.
AirCanada.com customers are unaffected by this incident.
Affected customers have been contacted by email – so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your inbox if you’re data been compromised.
According to Air Canada, there’s a fair old amount of data that is stored in the Air Canada Mobile+ app including:
- Basic profile data stored such as name, email address, and telephone number
- Additional data such as Aeroplan number, Passport number, NEXUS number, Known Traveller Number, gender, birthdate, nationality, passport expiration date, passport country of issuance and country of residence.
The in terms of credit card information, the airline states
Your credit card information is protected. Credit cards that are saved to your profile are encrypted and stored in compliance with security standards set by the payment card industry or PCI standards. As a best practice, customers should always monitor their transactions and credit rating carefully and contact their financial services provider immediately if they become aware of any unusual or unauthorized activities.
Aeroplan data is not affected at this time, but it’s strongly advisable to check for any unusual activity.
In situations like this, maintaining data security is important. If you use the Air Canada Mobile+ app, update your security credentials now.
To do this:
- Head to https://www.aircanada.com/uk/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2018/notice-air-canada-mobile-app-users.html
- Follow the links on there to reset your security credentials.
These days, attacks and compromises like this are not going to get less any time soon as people seek ways to access systems they’re not meant to – be it for entertainment or criminal purposes.
Please stay alert out there.
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