Programming error leaves some customers on Northwest Web site vulnerable

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) -- Northwest Airlines is alerting customers who recently made purchases on its Frequent Flier Web site that their credit card numbers and personal information were unprotected because of a programming glitch.

Northwest spokesman Jon Austin said the risk of hackers getting the information is small, but one the airline is taking seriously.

``We want to be able to take care of this ourselves because it is a problem we created and one we want to help resolve,'' he said.

The problem arose when a computer programmer doing maintenance on the site put the system back on line, but forgot to restore the security system.

When a customer didn't see a small ``lock'' icon as he placed his order in mid-December, he notified the carrier that the information was not secure.

Austin did not say exactly how long the site was unsecured or how many passengers were affected. Northwest is now notifying passengers who made purchases at the time about the security lapse.