According to a report in Bloomberg, United Continental Holdings UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, has fallen prey to China-backed internet hackers. The report stated that the attack on its software systems was detected by the Chicago-based carrier in May/early June.
Apparently, information on flights' passengers and destinations has been stolen by the hackers following the computer-systems breach. The hacking of such confidential passenger-related information is certainly a grave cause of concern as it might give criminals access to sensitive travel plans, among other things. The hackers who had targeted the carrier seem to be experts in the field as suggested by their past record. It has been alleged that the group has been responsible for data thefts in the past from ten major organizations.
For instance, the theft of medical data from health insurance company Anthem Inc. ANTM earlier in the year and the stolen security clearance records from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in May were handiworks of the same group of cyber criminals. The computer-systems breach at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management posed grave security threat as it enabled the hackers to identify people holding key defense and intelligence posts. The data theft at Anthem, on the other hand, laid bare before the hackers access to the company’s IT system, in addition to other key information.
The news of the alleged hacking at United Airlines comes close on the heels of reports of the carrier awarding millions of frequent flier miles to hackers who disclosed gaps that they found in the carrier’s web security system, making the carrier the first in its industry to do so. It is rather ironical that the same company is now facing cyber threat concerns.
We remind investors that software glitches grounded United Airlines’ flights in two successive months (June and July 2015), causing passenger harassments and throwing daily flight schedules haywire on the affected days. Could hacking then be the reason behind the glitches? At the moment, we can only wait eagerly for an answer to the question.
Zacks Rank
United Continental Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the transportation space are Ship Finance International Limited SFL and Diana Containerships DCIX. Both the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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