Aviation IT specialist SITA has confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber attack, leading to a data security incident involving certain passenger data that was stored on the SITA Passenger Service System (U.S.) Inc. servers. Passenger Service System (U.S.) Inc. (“SITA PSS”) operates passenger processing systems for airlines.
After confirmation of the seriousness of the data security incident on February 24, 2021, SITA took immediate action to contact affected SITA PSS customers and all related organizations.
“We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about security threats, and, at the same time, cyber criminals have become more sophisticated and active. This was a highly sophisticated attack,” said a company statement.
SITA acted swiftly and initiated targeted containment measures. The matter remains under continued investigation by SITA’s Security Incident Response Team with the support of leading external experts in cybersecurity.
Airline customers who have a Data Subject Access Request in relation to the handling of their personal data, can make a request directly to that airline in accordance with GDPR and data protection legislation. SITA is unable to respond directly to any such request.
