A senior and long-serving flight attendant is facing the possibility of being jailed for up to five years after being accused of leaking sensitive passenger data and selling access to confidential airline computer systems. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Israel’s Privacy Protection Agency announced Sunday details of the investigation after concerns were first reported to the authorities by the flight attendant’s employer.
The IDF said the flight attendant had been leaking private passenger information for several years. Data said to have been passed onto an associate included medical information about passengers, frequent flyer status, passport details, home addresses and highly regarded VIP passengers.
The allegations, first reported by Israel’s N12 News did not name the airline involved. The IDF did, however, confirm that the airline was Israeli. The national flag carrier, El Al is by far the largest airline in Israel but the country does have several other small carriers including Israir and Arkia.
An investigation by the Privacy Protection Agency found that the flight attendant sold their login details to remotely access airline computer systems, giving free rein to the criminal involved to access whatever information they liked.
“The databases managed by private entities such as businesses and companies also contain the most sensitive and personal information,” explained a spokesperson for the Privacy Protection Agency.
The spokesperson said giving access to this information to an unauthorised person could be punishable by up to five years imprisonment. The case has been handed over to the Cyber Department of the State Attorney’s Office for review and possible prosecution.
