Scandinavian airline SAS was hit by a cyberattack yesterday that reportedly brought its website and app down, potentially exposing customer information briefly.
Customers were urged not to use the airline’s mobile apps as they could be provided with false information, according to a report cited by Reuters. Some users were clearly logged into the wrong account, giving them access to other customers’ private information.
The company’s website was also reportedly temporarily down yesterday.
The link describing the “cyberattack against SAS” on SAS’ Newsroom tab is broken at the time of writing, and the airline has carefully avoided providing details on Twitter.
However, the company’s Valentine’s Day marketing campaign was met with a sarcastic response from customers.
The airline asked its Twitter followers, “Are you dreaming of a trip to the most romantic city in the world this Valentine’s Day?”
One person replied: “Well, for now, I dream of being able to actually book flights on your website or app,” she says, sharing a screenshot of the downed app.
Another user also reported a technical issue yesterday where they were unable to purchase tickets at the company.
Not sure if all reported issues have been resolved.
However, the attackers reported yesterday to the Swedish TV channel svt.
The DDoS attack was claimed by a group calling itself ‘Anonymous Sudan’ which claimed to be retaliation for the recent burning of a Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
The incident, which is said to have been orchestrated by far-right politicians with ties to the Kremlin, jeopardizes the country’s NATO membership because Turkey holds a veto.
As such, experts cited by svt argue that the DDoS could be a Russian false flag operation aimed at continuing to incite hatred against Sweden in Muslim countries like Turkey.
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