Why Airlines Are Prime Targets for Cyberattacks

Airlines are tempting targets for cybercriminals due to the vast amount of sensitive data they handle, from customer details to payment information. In fact:

  • Airline cyberattacks are up 74% since 2020.
  • Airlines are the most targeted industry, accounting for 46% of all fraudulent transactions. 

These cyber threats take numerous forms: Credential stuffing, loyalty fraud, scraping, and account takeover attacks. They disrupt service, expose sensitive data, and damage brand reputation. With the global surge in travel, the increasing value of loyalty programs, and countless booking channels, the attack surface continues to grow.

Loyalty and Rewards Points At Risk

Your customers collectively own up to billions of dollars in loyalty/rewards points. They trust you as their preferred travel provider and expect you to protect their data. And now, so does the Federal Trade Commission.

Why are points so tempting to criminals? Oh, the many places they can go. They can:

  • Empty loyalty accounts and sell itineraries on the black market for a price they choose.
  • Cash-out by converting the points to online gift cards. 

Low adoption of MFA/2FA and password reuse facilitates the account breaches that make this possible. Worst of all? Points fraud is harder to insure against – no chargebacks or other protection exists. Customers often have little recourse if the airline does not make them whole. They leave their loyalty to your brand in tatters…and complain loudly.

Content Scraping: An Old Threat Gets Worse

Scraping of flight information and pricing is not a new phenomenon. However, its impact has grown as the industry moved to dynamic pricing. Scrapers now target a page continuously to monitor for changes. This:

  • Inflates customer acquisition costs through excessive host PSS web service and API queries for price and flight info.
  • Impairs performance and responsiveness of the retailing stack. This impacts the customer experience and revenue capture of legitimate shoppers. 
  • Profits unauthorized Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) that ingest the airline’s data without permission.

Kasada’s bot mitigation prevents scrapers from accessing your systems, reducing operational costs, and ensuring your pricing and availability data is only available to legitimate users.

There is a major added bonus – observing and modeling demand signals from clean web traffic and eCommerce data. Accurate insights now drive dynamic pricing and revenue capture opportunities.

Build Relationships With (Real) Customers

Are customers booking directly with you, or through OTAs that are scraping your data without permission? 

Kasada uncovered a previously unknown OTA that was scraping an airline’s data and re-selling flights. The airline’s customers held it liable when encountering problems with OTA-booked itineraries it didn’t control, impacting customer satisfaction. 

Kasada shut down the scraping and helped a key company goal – to own their customer relationships by encouraging direct bookings. 

The First Line of Defense Against Fraud

Kasada’s advanced bot mitigation identifies and blocks malicious traffic before it impacts your infrastructure. It defends against:

  • Credential Stuffing Attacks: Protect customers’ loyalty and rewards points, online accounts, and booking systems from unauthorized access.
  • Content Scraping: Prevent competitors and bad actors from scraping flight pricing and schedule information, ensuring your data remains accurate and secure.
  • Account Takeovers: Safeguard customer accounts from fraudulent activities and maintain trust in your brand.

Frictionless Experience for Travelers

An airline’s web and mobile experience must be seamless or the customer will book elsewhere. Automated threats compromise user experience by slowing down (or even crashing) the site, while CAPTCHAs and visual challenges turn away legitimate customers. Fake CAPTCHAs that spread malware add a whole new dimension of pain. 

That’s why Kasada operates invisibly, blocking malicious traffic without disrupting real users. 

Our solution provides:

  • Uninterrupted User Experience: Users don’t solve CAPTCHAs or frustrating puzzles to prove they’re human. Kasada works invisibly to determine whether a visitor is legitimate.
  • Seamless Scalability: From seasonal or sale-related traffic spikes to constant global demand, Kasada scales effortlessly to protect your airline’s services.
  • Faster site speed. One airline improved its site speed and stability by 30% after Kasada kicked off the bot traffic.

Trusted by Leading Brands

Global leaders in the airline industry, such as Wizz Air, trust Kasada to safeguard their websites, apps, and APIs from automated threats. With Kasada, enjoy unparalleled protection tailored to the complexities of the airline industry—the result: better security for customers and a stronger foundation for your business. Kasada’s Bot Defense and KasadaIQ threat intelligence services effectively defend airlines from malicious actors, ensuring smooth operations and maintaining customer trust.

Want to learn more?

  • Kasada’s Reflections on the Q3 2024 Forrester Wave™ – Bot Management Evaluation

    Kasada named a Strong Performer. Here are some of our own reflections having taken part in this evaluation.

  • Fake CAPTCHA Scams: Ruining Consumer Trust and Driving Website Abandonment

    CAPTCHAs frustrate users, fail to stop sophisticated bots, and now pose a serious malware risk.

Beat the bots without bothering your customers — see how.