IndiGo: A man claims to have hacked the airline’s website in order to locate misplaced luggage
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To locate his missing luggage, a guy claims he was compelled to hack into the website of a domestic Indian airline.
Nandan Kumar, 28, sought assistance from IndiGo, a low-cost carrier, after realising he had swapped his bag with a fellow traveller.
However, after IndiGo declined to assist him in locating the other individual, Mr Kumar said that he was able to find information about him on the airline’s website.
Mr Kumar claims he isn’t a skilled hacker, but that he had to “do something” to get his bags back.
In a series of tweets, Mr Kumar, a software developer, claimed that by the time he arrived at the airport luggage belt, a fellow passenger had taken his bag and fled.
He was able to find the other person’s Passenger Name Record number (PNR) on a luggage tag, but when he called the airline to inquire about the passenger, they refused, claiming privacy and data protection regulations.
IndiGo said in a statement that “the customer service crew followed protocol by not disclosing any other passenger’s contact information.” This complies with our data protection policies. “
Using his co-passenger PNR, he began digging through IndiGo’s website in the hopes of discovering an address or phone number.
He attempted a few other approaches, including using the check-in procedure, amending the booking, and altering the contact information. None of it, though, was successful.
He discovered something unexpected: his co-phone passenger’s number.
However, he claims that the data in the system should have been secured and that it permitted anyone to access personal information.
It is fairly simple to obtain a PNR and a last name. Passengers swap boarding cards. Mr Kumar explains that anyone can look at your luggage, snap a picture of them, and then use that picture to obtain your information.
He dialled the phone number he had seen in the system logs and met up with his fellow traveller to exchange luggage.
“We are analysing this matter in-depth,” the airline added, “and would like to clarify that our IT protocols are robust.”
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