The FBI posted a warning on Friday that a notorious cybercriminal group known as "Scattered Spider" has been targeting U.S. airlines.
The agency said the goal of the hacker group is to steal sensitive data from the airlines for extortion, as well as deploy ransomware.
"These actors rely on social engineering techniques, often impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access," the FBI said in a statement. "These techniques frequently involve methods to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA), such as convincing help desk services to add unauthorized MFA devices to compromised accounts. They target large corporations and their third-party IT providers, which means anyone in the airline ecosystem, including trusted vendors and contractors, could be at risk."
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Hawaiian Airlines and WestJet both confirmed they were recently victims of a cyberattack, according to CNN. However, they did not name the group as the source of the attack.
The FBI said it is working with aviation partners to address the activity, but that it has not impacted airline safety.
The Scattered Spider hacker group has previously been linked to cyberattacks across different company sectors, including an attack that shut down MGM Resorts' systems for over a week back in 2023.
