Cranky on the Web: Hacking Your Reservations, Southwest Computer Problems in Baltimore
A Hacker Exposed the Ancient Flaw That Makes Airlines So Hackable – Popular Mechanics
I missed this when it first happened, but apparently there was some glitch through El Al that allowed this guy to hack into passenger reservations on Amadeus. I went back and forth with the author in detail about why I didn’t think this was likely as big of a deal as they’re making it sound. I’ve been trying to do more research on my own, but Amadeus won’t talk to me outside of giving me a bland statement that starts with…
At Amadeus, we give security the highest priority and are constantly monitoring and updating all of our products and systems. We became alerted to an issue in one of our products and our technical teams took immediate action and as of January 16 the issue was fixed. We can confirm that Amadeus has not detected any data breach and that no data from travelers was disclosed. We regret any disruption this situation may have caused.
I still don’t think this is as big of a deal as it’s being made out to be, but without Amadeus being willing to talk, it’s going to be hard to get into the full details.
Why issues that delayed flights at BWI are an industry-wide problem – WUSA9 Washington, DC
There was a computer glitch that caused Southwest flights at BWI to be delayed earlier this week, and WUSA reached out to me to talk about why these things keep happening. I certainly didn’t know the specifics of this incident, but I talked about it broadly. The end result is what happens when you don’t have time to run home and get a nice shirt before the Skype interview. (At least I wasn’t wearing a t-shirt…)
