5 Million AirAsia Group Passenger and Employee Data Stolen by Ransomware Gang

JAKARTA - A ransomware gang nicknamed Daixin Team has reportedly leaked sample data belonging to the AirAsia Group, a total of 5 million passengers and all of their employees.

The low-cost carrier was the victim of a ransomware attack on November 11 and 12.

According to DataBreaches, a website that reports data breach incidents around the world, on November 19, Daixin Team notified DataBreaches that they obtained the personal data of 5 million unique passengers and employees.

The data is then uploaded by the Daixin Team to their dedicated hacking site. DataBreaches said he was provided with two .csv files which the perpetrators also provided to AirAsia Group.

One file contains passenger name information. The second file contains employee information with many fields which include name, date of birth, country of birth, location, start date of employment.

The file also includes, secret questions, and answers. A Daixin spokesman said AirAsia Group did respond to the attack.

The company asked Daixin negotiators for data samples, and after receiving the samples, they asked in great detail how Daixin Team would delete their data in the event of a payment.

However, AirAsia Group is reportedly not trying to negotiate the amount, indicating they have no intention of paying anything.

"Usually everyone wants to negotiate a smaller amount," said a spokesman for the Daixin Team, quoted on Thursday, November 24.

Even so, it is not known exactly how much ransom Daixin Team demanded in order for them to provide the decryption key, delete all the data they had extracted, and notify AirAsia Group of the vulnerabilities that had been found and exploited.

The spokesperson also stated that further attacks would not be carried out due to AirAsia Group's poor security measures and the network's chaotic organization.

AirAsia Group is not the only Malaysian airline to experience violations. Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines disclosed similar data security incidents in 2020 and 2021.