SpiceJet is one of India’s biggest personally owned airlines.

It encountered a data breach including the details of more than a million of its travellers, a security researcher told in a statement.

The Incident & Its Impact

The security researcher, who explained their activities as “ethical hacking” but whom they are not identifying as they possibly fell afoul of U.S. computer hacking rules, got access to one of SpiceJet’s systems by brute-forcing the system’s quickly guessable password.

An unencrypted database alternate file on that system enclosed secret data of more than 1.2 million travellers of the budget-carrier last month.

Each account involved details such as the name of the traveller, their telephone number, email address and their date of birth, the researcher reported.

A few of these travellers were state administrators, they said.

The database covered a rolling month’s value of flight data and details of each passenger, they said, replying that they assume that the database was clearly accessible for anyone who identified where to look.

The researcher warned SpiceJet about the database but stated that they never got a meaningful response.

The researcher next signalled CERT-In, a government-run firm in India that manages cybersecurity threats in the nation.

The agency verified the security lapse and informed SpiceJet, which has since taken the required steps to protect the database.

An airline spokesperson mentioned in a statement that at SpiceJet, security and safety of their fliers’ data are sacrosanct.

Their systems are adequately capable and always up to date to guard the fliers’ data which is a constant process.

He further said that they undertake every feasible measure to safeguard and preserve this data and assure that the privacy is kept at the highest and most trustworthy level.

Data breach at SpiceJet | iTMunch

A Brief on SpiceJet

SpiceJet holds roughly 13% of the market share in India, which is the fastest-growing flying market globally.

The airline operates more than 600 planes every day, including many that connect India to foreign countries such as Dubai and Hong Kong.

Around 12 million people in India fly every month.

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