Ryanair admits to serious website flaw

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.vnunet.com/News/1126560

By Liesbeth Evers 
Network News 
[31-10-2001]

Ryanair has admitted that its online recruitment website has a serious
security flaw which exposes job seekers' details to the eyes of
crackers.

Sensitive personal information, such as credit card details, health
records and career history, is collected by the unsecured site and
sent in unencrypted email to the company's back office.

The flaw potentially breaches the Data Protection Act, which came into
force last week. Chris McAlpine, of the Information Commissioner's
Office, said: "The transfer has to be secure, especially for sensitive
data."

Phil Robinson, managing consultant at Information Risk Management,
pointed out that the inclusion of credit card details made the
vulnerability "very serious". Unlike personal data, credit card
details can easily be turned into money.

The only way a pilot can apply for a job at Ryanair is via the
internet. The recruitment data contains credit card information
because Ryanair refuses to consider applications unless a 50 fee is
paid.

Embarrassingly for the airline, this vulnerability is easy and cheap
to avoid. Secure socket layer (SSL) security, the encryption feature
in the software, should be switched on and the company then has only
to spend a few hundred pounds on a digital certificate to ensure that
data is sent to the correct party instead of to a rogue server.

"Securing a site through SSL is usually a very simple job," said
Robinson. "Without it, a network sniffer can pick up unsecured data
passing through a cable modem or the local site of the internet
service provider. Or someone can spoof Ryanair's domain name and set
up a rogue server to receive data from an imitated site."

Michael O'Leary, chief executive at Ryanair, admitted the security
blunder to the BBC last week, and promised that the leak would be
fixed by this week. Ryanair has since refused to comment on the
situation, although O'Leary maintained that it had not deterred job
applicants from using the site.

Ryanair's recruitment site states explicitly that applicants'
information will remain confidential. "That is clearly incorrect,"
said Robinson. "The way the data is submitted is totally
unconfidential."



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