EMBARGOED: Boarding pass barcodes a back door for identity thieves
Wednesday, 05 Nov, 2015
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The next time you land at an airport it is probably a good thing not to simply discard that used boarding pass.
The barcodes printed on boarding passes hoard a treasure trove of information about a flyer’s personal details, itinerary, and frequent-flyer accounts, which can be easily accessed by anyone using a free online tool.
Cybersecurity website Krebs on Security relates the story of Cory, a Krebs reader who conducted his own ‘social experiment.’
Cory took a screenshot of a boarding pass one of his friends had posted online and easily managed to access his friend’s personal information by using a free online decoder to read the barcode.
"Besides his name, frequent flyer number and other information, I was able to get his record locator," recalled Cory.
"The record locator was able to get access to his entire account. Not only could I see this one flight, but I could see any future flights that were booked to his frequent flyer number from Star Alliance."
"More worrisome, Cory now had the ability to view all future flights tied to that frequent flyer account, change seats for the ticketed passengers, and even cancel any future flights," Krebs wrote.
With this information it is possible to reset a password, Krebs notes.
Some accounts have an added layer of password security – such as your mother’s maiden name or the name of a pet – but this is often easily found with a little digging on social media profiles.
The moral of the story: when you are done with the boarding pass, shred it rather than simply tossing it into a trash can, and posting a picture of a boarding pass online is just inviting trouble.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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