Did you ever think that taking a picture of your boarding pass and then posting it on a social media site such as Facebook or Instagram was a fun way to share with the world that you were going on a trip? Well, you may want to think twice before doing it again.
Recently travel blogger and CEO of iflyat.com.au Steve Hui conducted an experiment to see what information he could find out from just a picture of a boarding pass. He published the results in an article on News.com.au and what he found was astounding.
"[The airline] publishes an astonishing amount of information, including the E-Ticket number, booking reference, frequent flyer number and even how many bags you have checked in. I decided to test just how vulnerable the system was, and headed to the Delta website," says Hui.
"I was quickly able to log into the booking and see all the passenger's details. From that information, I could view the passenger's entire itinerary, and see when and where they were going to travel…People with malicious minds could use that information to potentially cancel or change your flights, change your seat or cause other issues," says Hui.
Flights could be changed or even canceled by complete strangers.
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And, according to Hui, barcodes are even worse.
"You may think that airport computers are the only devices that can read this, but the truth is, anyone can read a barcode. There are dozens of online barcode readers that provide information based on a photo you upload," he notes.
Intrigued? There's more. Read on about all the ways that boarding passes cold be used maliciously by hackers here.
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