UN Aviation Agency Investigates Reports of Possible Data Breach

The United Nations’ civil aviation agency is investigating reports of a “potential information security incident” following a claim that tens of thousands of its records had been stolen, the organization said on Monday.

The Canada-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said in a brief statement posted on its website that the potential security breach was possibly tied to “a threat actor known for targeting international organizations.”

ICAO confirmed to Reuters in a follow-up email that the investigation was related to a claim reportedly made on a hacker forum on Jan. 6 that 42,000 records had been stolen from the agency. It did not elaborate.

“At this early stage of our investigation, we cannot provide additional details about the incident or confirm specific claims about the data potentially involved,” ICAO said.

The agency, which has 193 member states, was targeted in a hack in 2016 and said afterwards that it had made significant improvements to its security.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens; Editing by Chris Reese and Kate Mayberry)