"Airport passcodes leaked from virus-infected PC"

Friday, December 9, 2005

Airport codes leaked onto Internet
United Press International


TOKYO, (UPI) -- Passwords for restricted areas in 17 airports have been
leaked onto the Internet from a Japan Airlines co-pilot's personal computer,
the airline said Friday.
 
Japan's Transport Ministry notified the airline after it noticed Wednesday
that passwords for 16 Japanese airports -- including the two serving Tokyo
-- as well as for Guam International Airport had been posted on Internet
bulletin boards, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Friday.

Moreover, the ministry confirmed that the Boeing 767 instruction manual had
been leaked. JAL has asked the operators of the 17 airports to change their
code numbers and tighten security.

The information was leaked from a computer that a 29-year-old Boeing 767
co-pilot kept at his home after it was infected with a computer virus. The
co-pilot used the peer-to-peer file-sharing program Winny at home.

Three- to five-digit code numbers are used to unlock doors to restricted
areas within the airports. However, ministry officials said there is not a
route through which outsiders can go straight to aircraft without going
through immigration.

JAL prohibits ground staff members from taking work-related information out
of their offices, while setting guidelines for ways that crew members manage
and take out such information.

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