Qantas app breached, airline investigating cause

Picture: AFR

Article Excerpt:

Qantas is investigating a suspected IT issue involving its flagship mobile app, as travellers on Wednesday reported being able to access the frequent flyer details of strangers.

Evan Vougdis, one of our Cyber Directors and Cyber Threat Intelligence Practice Lead provided comment in this article:

A spokesman warned customers to be wary of social media scams, as a malfunction in the main Qantas app gives customers access to other customers’ flight details, boarding passes and personal data.

NSB Cyber director Evan Vougdis said within moments of the news breaking on Wednesday morning, social media pages impersonating Qantas had appeared.

“It’s no surprise that scammers and fraudsters will try and take advantage of the situation and the easiest way is to use social media,” Mr Vougdis said.

“Whether it’s X, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, people always go to these pages to seek help and advice around particular issues. This being a data issue, people will be asking questions and when they’re stressed or rushing, they can make mistakes and not realise they’re looking at a fraudulent page and hand over their information.”

Mr Vougdis said there was also a potential physical threat given people could access boarding passes for both domestic and international flights. But a Qantas spokesman said there had been no reports of attempts to use someone else’s boarding pass this morning.

Source: The Australian Financial Review - Wednesday 1 May 2024.
Author: Ayesha de Kretser
Reference: Qantas app breached, airline investigating cause