Hackers steal huge amount of data from US Federal Aviation Administration’s computers

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has told its employees that one of its computers was hacked and that “personally identifiable information” of over 45,000 employees and retirees was “stolen electronically.”

All the affected employees, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement on its website, would be receiving individual letters notifying them about the breach. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an agency of the United States Department of Transportation, is bestowed with the powers to regulate and oversee all aspects pertaining to civil aviation in the US.

The FAA statement explained that two of the 48 files on the hacked server did contain personal information about employees and retirees who were on the agency’s rolls as of the first week of February 2006.

Lynne Osmus, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, said in the statement that the hacking of the server was found out when the agency’s Cyber Security Management Centre was investigating “unusual activity.”

Most of the 48 stolen files, she added, were test files used for application development. However, two of these files had names and Social Security Numbers. Medical information from the hacked files was encrypted and not identifiable, Lynne Osmus added.

The counter-measures that the Federal Aviation Administration’s took included posting information in the form of ‘frequently asked questions’ on the FAA’s employee website and public website, according to the FAA administrator. The FAA also has notified the breach to representatives of employees unions and the Congressional committees concerned. In addition, law enforcement authorities are investigating the theft of data from the FAA server.

The FAA stressed in the statement that the server, which was illegally accessed, was not connected to the operation of the air traffic control system or any other operational system of the FAA and that the agency had no indication that those systems have been harmed in any way.

However, some media reports said the FAA’s announcement that the operation of the air traffic control system or any other operational system had not been harmed was “not at all reassuring” and pointed to the fact that the FAA did not specify when the electronic breach took place or when the agency came to know of it.

The FAA said that it was taking steps to prevent similar incidents of hacking and that it had identified short-term and long-term actions to enhance its ability to shield personal data.