According to a Bloomberg report, United Airlines was breached about the same time as Anthem and the Office of Personnel Management.

The report said investigators believe the attack to be the work of hackers backed by China who previously stole security background check data from OPM and medical records from Anthem.

Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategy for Tripwire, said: “If investigators are accurate in attributing these attacks to the same group, they have amassed a vast database of information that could be used for multiple purposes, from economic espionage to political gain. How they connect these data points together will determine the outcome, but it's clearly not good for the United States.”

Stewart Draper, director of insider threat at Securonix, said: the “constant onslaught of attacks on airlines should drive home to the airline industry and it makes up a critical part of infrastructure that appeals to nation states and hacktivist groups” and must “do a better job harden their systems.”

Kevin Foisy, chief software architect and co-founder of STEALTHbits contends that these incursions “undoubtedly training grounds for the real attacks that could come in the event of war. He went on to say that these “recent breaches in the area of finance and transportation should serve as a warning for the crippling effects of an e-attack to a technology dependent nation in a time of conflict.”

Because the investigation of United's breach is in its early days, details are scarce as to “how the attackers succeeded in penetrating United Airlines systems."

Tim Erlin concluded that it will likely take months to reveal more, he said, adding that “it's imperative that details are shared with other organizations so that we can collectively improve defenses.”

Source: SCMagazine