Taiwan State-Owned Airline Hacked... Celebrity Personal Information Leaked

Vice President, TSMC and Foxconn Founders, Actor Also Targeted
Hacker Demands Large Sum Then Leaks Member DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Taiwan's state-owned airline China Airlines has suffered a hacking attack, resulting in a massive leak of personal information of political and business figures as well as celebrities, including Vice President Lai Ching-te, a leading presidential candidate, and Chang Chung-mou, founder of semiconductor manufacturer TSMC.

On the 15th, local Taiwanese media such as Liberty Times and United Daily News reported that China Airlines received an anonymous cyber ransom letter demanding a large sum after its website was hacked on the 7th. China Airlines immediately reported the threat letter to the Aviation Police Bureau and reportedly initiated emergency measures in preparation for any eventuality.

Taiwan's state-owned airline, China Airlines, suffered a hacking attack resulting in the leakage of member personal information. The photo shows a China Airlines passenger plane.
Photo by Yonhap News

Liberty Times and others stated that China Airlines' information and communication systems are currently operating normally, and flight operations have not been affected. They also reported that there have been no incidents of unauthorized use of member information. Police authorities have begun investigating suspicious access data (IP addresses) and electronic wallets, discovering that the IP addresses are overseas rather than within Taiwan. Accordingly, they plan to conduct investigations in cooperation with the International Division of the National Police Agency.

However, dissatisfied with China Airlines' police report, the hacker launched a second attack by publicly releasing China Airlines' member data on overseas sites.

The list released by the hacker reportedly includes political and business figures such as Vice President Lai Ching-te, TSMC founder Chang Chung-mou, Foxconn founder Guo Taiming, Foreign Minister Wu Chao-hsieh, former Minister of Transportation Wang Kuo-chai, as well as famous celebrities including actresses Lin Ziling (Im Ji-ryeong), Vivian Hsu, and Shu Qi. China Airlines' member data includes member numbers, names in Chinese and English, dates of birth, mobile phone numbers, and other personal information.

United Daily News reported that the hacker threatened to further disclose the intrusion routes into China Airlines, all system lists, and the member database of up to 3 million people. The hacker also added, "China Airlines has not admitted the hacking incident and has only delayed, resulting in two disclosures this month alone," and "Victims of the hacking may be able to file a class-action lawsuit against China Airlines for damages."

Regarding the member data released by the hacker, China Airlines stated that it "partially does not match" and requested its members to regularly change their passwords to protect personal information security.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications Civil Aeronautics Administration has instructed China Airlines to submit a detailed explanation of the incident, the airline's response and follow-up measures, and various improvement reports on future internal data management.