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Old Dec 27, 2016 | 1:03 pm
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Reservations hacking?

Just read a blog post about hackers guessing or brute-force hacking the record locator code of Global Distribution Systems to cancel, modify, your flights.

Guess it's too much to expect airlines to support 2-factor authentication in order to access these reservations?

I know you can access some of them without having an account on the airlines' websites, just knowing the last name and the locator code.
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Old Dec 27, 2016 | 1:29 pm
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Can you access/modify a reservation with *just* the 6 characters? Or do you also need last name?

Seems like the easier path in would be airlines that have short/predictable FF#'s and minimal password requirements. For years, my United FF# was a number (no letters) protected only by a 4-digit PIN.
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Old Dec 27, 2016 | 1:41 pm
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To what end? Why are they doing this? Simple mischief hardly seems worth the time.

Also yes, most airlines seem to require another piece of info to access the reservation, plus the record locator.
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Old Dec 27, 2016 | 2:08 pm
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Yeah I don't know if they can change the passenger or have a refund sent to themselves?

I've heard of some claims of people having their FF accounts robbed of their miles though.

I wish both airlines and credit card rewards programs had better security but even financial institutions aren't using 2FA widely. Well some are but not most banks and credit unions or credit card issuers.
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Old Dec 29, 2016 | 5:21 am
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There was a talk about this the other day at CCC, haven't watched it yet but heard good things from people who have https://media.ccc.de/v/33c3-7964-where_in_the_world_is_carmen_sandiego
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Old Dec 29, 2016 | 5:34 am
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Originally Posted by wco81
Yeah I don't know if they can change the passenger or have a refund sent to themselves?

I've heard of some claims of people having their FF accounts robbed of their miles though.

I wish both airlines and credit card rewards programs had better security but even financial institutions aren't using 2FA widely. Well some are but not most banks and credit unions or credit card issuers.
With a record locator and passenger name, the frequent flyer number can be grabbed rather often and then sometimes misused rather easily by some. If having a contact in an airline, it's also sometimes possible to use the accessed eticket info to get some idea about the credit card number and then use that also to get other info to have a reasonly good idea of what the credit card number may be. Given how lots of bank card transactions don't rely upon chip or PIN tied verification and don't even require the 3/4 digit security code, see where this goes?
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Old Jan 4, 2017 | 1:57 pm
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One thing that has been done is to create new loyalty program accounts for PNRs accessed by passenger name and record locators (which can be swiped or even guessed by brute force attacks) and then manage to enter in the program account number of the account controlled by the "hacker" in order to collect the miles/points and then somehow get a liquidity event out of them.

Cancelling flights and using the eticket and its residual value may also be possible in some cases.
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Old Jan 4, 2017 | 2:09 pm
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re hacking and airlines, when gmail asks for frequent flyer number, shows that identity related theft will increase because hackers will be able to do one stop shopping (by hitting google, in this example)
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Old Jan 4, 2017 | 2:40 pm
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I had a suspicious change to a Delta itinerary a few months ago that nobody could quite explain, MSP became JFK.
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Old Jan 4, 2017 | 7:08 pm
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Originally Posted by Kagehitokiri
re hacking and airlines, when gmail asks for frequent flyer number, shows that identity related theft will increase because hackers will be able to do one stop shopping (by hitting google, in this example)
The expanded governmental requirements for more passenger data to be captured and transmitted has become a real goldmine for a variety of questionable actors. The more info required to engage in business, and the more centralization there is of that info in a system, the greater the consequences of any vulnerability exploited.
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Old Jan 4, 2017 | 9:24 pm
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Google asks for FF number so they can auto-populate their TripIt clone. Or have Google Now tell you about where you're going or other AI nonsense.

Then mine your data and sell ads to you, sell your data to their advertisers.
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Old Jan 5, 2017 | 8:19 am
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
The expanded governmental requirements for more passenger data to be captured and transmitted has become a real goldmine for a variety of questionable actors. The more info required to engage in business, and the more centralization there is of that info in a system, the greater the consequences of any vulnerability exploited.
Admiral Michael Rogers just made my point for me in his briefing this morning to the US Senate committee inquiring about cyberthreats to the country.
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