American and Southwest Airlines Witness Data Breach

This Friday, two of the world’s largest airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines confirmed a data breach where their Pilot Credentials, a third-party software that controls the pilot recruitment and application for numerous airlines, were compromised.

Apparently, the incident took place on May 3, targeting primarily the third-party vendor. No impact on the airlines’ own network or systems has been reported.

What Transpired?

On April 30, the threat actor gained unauthorized access to the Pilot Credentials’ systems and stole files comprising data supplied by a few candidates in the pilot and cadet recruiting process.

According to the official information shared with Maine’s Office of the Attorney General, the breach impacted 5745 pilots and applicants of American Airlines, whereas Southwest reported that around 3009 individuals’ information was compromised.

“Our investigation determined that the data involved contained some of your personal information, such as your name and Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, date of birth, Airman Certificate number, and other government-issued identification number(s),” says the American Airline.

The airlines will now drive all pilot and cadet candidates to self-managed internal portals, even though there is no proof that the pilots’ personal information was intentionally targeted or exploited for fra

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