Panasonic Reveals Alarming Data Breach Following Intense Cyberattack in December 2022

Picture this: you’re on a long flight, and you decide to unwind by watching a movie or browsing the internet using the in-flight entertainment system. Little did you know that the company behind that very system, Panasonic Avionics Corporation, fell victim to a data breach back in December 2022. As a leading supplier of in-flight communications and entertainment systems, Panasonic has now disclosed the incident that affected an undisclosed number of individuals.

What Happened During the Breach?

Attackers managed to breach a subset of devices on Panasonic’s corporate network, gaining access to information collected from affected individuals and their employers. The company notified the Office of California’s Attorney General about the incident, stating that they initiated a comprehensive investigation and engaged cybersecurity and forensics experts to assess the scope of the breach and identify the impacted individuals.

Thankfully, while some personal and health information was exposed during the incident, Panasonic has not found any evidence that the data has been misused since the attack. The exposed information includes names, contact details (email address, mailing address, and telephone number), dates of birth, medical and health insurance information, financial account numbers, company employment status, and government identifiers, such as Social Security numbers.

What’s Being Done to Help the Affected Individuals?

Panasonic is offering 24 months of free identity and credit monitoring services through Kroll for all impacted people. They have warned those affected to check their credit reports for signs of suspicious activity. However, the data breach notifications sent do not clarify whether the incident affected only the company’s employees or its customers and business partners as well.

When we tried to contact a Panasonic spokesperson for more information on the data breach, they were not immediately available to provide further details.

Just How Big Is Panasonic Avionics?

To give you an idea of the scale of Panasonic Avionics’ reach, their in-flight entertainment (IFE) solutions are installed on over 15,000 commercial airplanes. More than 3,780 of these planes provide customers with Panasonic Avionics satellite Wi-Fi connectivity. Over 200 airlines use Panasonic’s IFE, Wi-Fi, and digital services on their aircraft, amounting to approximately 70% of the global IFE-equipped fleet.

What Can You Do to Stay Informed and Protected?

Incidents like this highlight the importance of staying on top of cybersecurity news and taking steps to protect yourself. We at IT Services are here to help, offering insights and solutions to keep you and your data safe. So, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for assistance or to simply keep coming back to learn more about potential cybersecurity threats and how to protect yourself from them.