The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations' aviation agency, confirmed a cybersecurity breach affecting its recruitment database, with over 42,000 job application records compromised.
The Montreal-based organization disclosed that a hacker operating under the alias "Natohub" accessed recruitment application data spanning from April 2016 to July 2024. The compromised information includes applicants' names, email addresses, dates of birth, and employment histories.
ICAO emphasized that no financial data, passwords, passport details, or uploaded documents were exposed in the breach. The organization also stated that aviation safety and security operations remain unaffected, as the incident was confined to recruitment systems.
The breach came to light when Natohub, a threat actor known for targeting international organizations, offered the stolen information for sale on a hacking forum. The same actor previously claimed responsibility for accessing personal data of 14,000 United Nations delegates.
In response to the incident, ICAO has implemented additional security measures and launched a comprehensive investigation. The organization plans to identify and notify affected individuals whose information was compromised.
While the scale of this breach appears relatively modest compared to recent cyberattacks on private companies like Comcast, Dell, and Dropbox, the incident raises concerns due to ICAO's role in overseeing aviation relationships between 193 countries.
The organization maintains it takes privacy and security seriously and will provide updates as the investigation continues.