The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued a security directive to all U.S. airports and air carriers, warning them of the need for more stringent cybersecurity protections following the leak of the federal No-fly list. A Swiss national recently published a blog post explaining that a copy of the No-fly list from 2019 was left exposed on an unsecured server, alongside other sensitive data from CommuteAir, a regional airline under United Airlines. The TSA has reached out to all domestic airlines to alert them of the potential for further breaches. The security directive reinforces existing requirements on handling sensitive security information and personally identifiable information. The agency has ordered the carriers to review their systems and take immediate action to ensure files are protected. The TSA is working with other federal agencies to investigate the issue. CommuteAir notified the government of the breach on January 18 and noted that none of the agency's systems were affected. Researchers found a November dark web post from the Endurance ransomware group that claimed a database of employee information had been stolen from the company. In their letter to victims of both data breaches, the company said it is working with Mandiant to modernize their systems and investigate the incidents. Rep. Dan Bishop and Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green sent a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske demanding answers about how the hacker was able to access versions of the Federal Terrorist Screening Dataset, as well as a version of the No-fly list. The White House has organized meetings with aviation industry leaders in recent months as it seeks to bolster cybersecurity protections in key sectors. Another congressman has called for federal agencies to investigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities in all systems underpinning air travel. A recent report found that there were 62 ransomware attacks on global aviation stakeholders in 2020 alone, and the value of ransom demands broke records in 2021. The European Air Traffic Management Computer Emergency Response Team found the number of reported cyberattacks among airline industry organizations grew 530% from 2019 to 2020.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Mon, 30 Jan 2023 22:01:03 +0000