Hack on United Airlines Makes CIA's Job More Difficult

6298494626_000950b26a_b.jpg

CIA's favoured Frequent Flyers Program

The Chinese hackers that stole the personally identifying information of more than 20 million people from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last year also hacked into United Airlines, Bloomberg reports. And Dave Aitel, CEO of cybersecurity firm Immunity, Inc., notes that the hackers’ breach of United is especially significant as it’s the main airline in and out of Washington, DC’s Dulles International, the nearest international airport to the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
“Every CIA employee and visitor coming from abroad flies in and out of Dulles, and chances are they’re flying United,” Aitel told Business Insider.
“The combination of information the hackers obtained from OPM with the travel information they now have from United is hugely powerful” for the Chinese, Aitel said, “and it will make the kind of work the CIA does much more difficult.”
Mike Oppenheim, the manager of threat intelligence at the cybersecurity firm FireEye, told the New York Times that Beijing is building “a massive database of Americans, with a likely focus on diplomats, intelligence operatives and those with business in China.”

The OPM hack, described by top counterintelligence official Joel Brenner as a “significant blow” to American human intelligence, has the CIA especially worried about American spies working in Beijing with diplomatic cover, sources told the Times. This “other information”, such as stolen medical and financial records, may now include US intelligence officials’ travel itineraries from the world’s second-largest airline.
FireEye estimates that the Chinese-based hackers have infiltrated at least 10 US companies and organisations, according to Bloomberg.

United Airlines claims it detected the breach in late May or early June. But the hackers’ digital footprints appear to be well over a year old, dating back to April 2014, according to Bloomberg.
The hackers who infiltrated OPM similarly had access to the agency’s security clearance computer system for over a year before they were detected.
“The average time Chinese hackers have access to a compromised system is 356 days and the longest recorded was 4 years and 10 months,” Mark Wuergler, a senior cybersecurity researcher at Immunity Inc., told Business Insider last month. “They are really good at what they do, and when they break into something it’s not just smash and grab.”
Business Insider:http://http://bit.ly/1Je5Dhe

 

« Cyber Attack on US Power Grid Will Cost $1 Trillion
Countdown: 10 Things Cyber Crooks Could Do To Your Computer, Without Even Touching It »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Perimeter 81 / How to Select the Right ZTNA Solution

Perimeter 81 / How to Select the Right ZTNA Solution

Gartner insights into How to Select the Right ZTNA offering. Download this FREE report for a limited time only.

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

Open Networking Foundation (ONF)

Open Networking Foundation (ONF)

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is a non-profit operator led consortium driving transformation of network infrastructure and carrier business models.

Securi-Tay

Securi-Tay

Securi-Tay is an information Security conference held by the Ethical Hacking Society at Abertay University, Dundee.

AirCUVE

AirCUVE

AirCUVE provide authentication and access control solutions for networks and mobile security.

Nixu

Nixu

Nixu is the largest Nordic specialist company in information security consulting.

CounterCraft

CounterCraft

The CounterCraft Cyber Deception Platform fits seamlessly into existing security strategies and delivers high-end deception for threat hunting and threat detection.

Uniwan

Uniwan

Uniwan is an IT services company specializing in networking and security.

Xperien

Xperien

Xperien is a leading South African Information Technology Asset Disposition (ITAD) company.

Portshift

Portshift

Portshift leverages the power of Kubernetes and Service-Mesh to deliver a single source of truth for containers and cloud-native applications security.

Techfusion

Techfusion

Techfusion is a cyber security research and consulting firm focusing on digital forensics and data recovery.

Cynance

Cynance

Cynance are an award-winning, independent cyber security specialist and part of the Transputec family of companies.

Cyber Gate Defense (CyberGate)

Cyber Gate Defense (CyberGate)

CyberGate is an Emirati establishment founded with an objective to provide cyber security services that would improve the overarching cyber security posture of the UAE.

Redhorse

Redhorse

Redhorse provides top-tier consulting to help clients address mission-critical government problems in National Security, Networking Technology, Energy and the Environment.

Spotit

Spotit

Spotit offers a wide-ranging portfolio of technologies and services, from consultancy, assessments and pentesting to the set up of completely new security and network infrastructures.

Celera Networks

Celera Networks

Celera Networks is a managed services provider specializing in cybersecurity, cloud and managed IT services.

ThreatLocker

ThreatLocker

The ThreatLocker Platform provides a Zero Trust security solution that offers a unified approach to protecting users, devices, and networks against the exploitation of zero day vulnerabilities.

Hackurity.io

Hackurity.io

Hackurity.io is a high energy IT security start-up founded in 2021 out of the frustration that IT Security is highly fragmented and reactive.