Tony Abbott's passport number revealed after Instagram Post

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calmelb

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I actually met TA whilst flying from CBR-SYD about 4 years ago. He sat next to me on the plane. As he left the plane, he left his boarding pass on the on the front pocket. I asked him if he wants to take it back, he said nah that's ok.
 
That was a really good read, thanks @calmelb . Also I will be much more careful disposing of used boarding passes and baggage receipts if I ever get to fly again.
 
Though the Guardian this time had a much better article and how this event has produced changes.


Hope described the former prime minister’s sentiment as “possibly the most pure and powerful Australian energy a human can possess”, and said he was impressed by Abbott’s response.
“That’s exactly the right way to respond when someone tells you about a security problem,” he wrote.


realised he just wanted to understand what had happened to him, and more about how technology works. That’s the same kind of curiosity I had, that started this whole surrealist three-act drama.
“The point of this story isn’t to say ‘wow Tony Abbott got hacked, what a dummy’. The point is that if someone famous can unknowingly post their boarding pass, anyone can.”
In a short statement, a spokesman for Abbott said: “Mr Hope brought this to the attention of relevant bodies earlier this year, and it has since been resolved.”
Qantas said it appreciated Hope bringing the post to its attention “in such a responsible way, so we could fix the issue, which we did several months ago”.

 
Interesting blog post about a vulnerability on the Qantas Manage my Booking page which revealed passport numbers if you knew the PNR. Abbott posted a boarding pass on Instagram, which this blogger used to find his passport number, mobile phone number, and QFF number. A very long, but entertaining read:


Edit: Thanks to the moderators for combining the threads, I looked quite a bit thinking it would be already posted and didn't find the existing one... guess that's why I'm not a moderator :)
 
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There is a prior thread on this [edit: this one :) ] , but revealing one's passport number, whilst sub-optimal, isn't such a big deal. Any number of hotels around the world have mine, together with the rest of the details on the photo page.
 
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There is a prior thread on this, but revealing one's passport number, whilst sub-optimal, isn't such a big deal. Any number of hotels around the world have mine, together with the rest of the details on the photo page.
The issue is the security to view the booking. Storing it is needed for many things to work
 

Love showing off those BP shots? There's a treasure trove of information, which if you leave your PNR showing is easily accessible. Some of the extra information is supposed to have been locked down now which will help. But please, please, always cover your surname, FF# and PNR!

IT News said:
Tony Abbott was given a lesson in information security by a curious security researcher who was able to discern his passport number and other sensitive information after the former prime minister of Australia posted a picture of his boarding pass on Instagram.
 

Love showing off those BP shots? There's a treasure trove of information, which if you leave your PNR showing is easily accessible. Some of the extra information is supposed to have been locked down now which will help. But please, please, always cover your surname, FF# and PNR!

And here, as well:

 
Though the Guardian this time had a much better article and how this event has produced changes.


Hope described the former prime minister’s sentiment as “possibly the most pure and powerful Australian energy a human can possess”, and said he was impressed by Abbott’s response.
“That’s exactly the right way to respond when someone tells you about a security problem,” he wrote.


realised he just wanted to understand what had happened to him, and more about how technology works. That’s the same kind of curiosity I had, that started this whole surrealist three-act drama.
“The point of this story isn’t to say ‘wow Tony Abbott got hacked, what a dummy’. The point is that if someone famous can unknowingly post their boarding pass, anyone can.”
In a short statement, a spokesman for Abbott said: “Mr Hope brought this to the attention of relevant bodies earlier this year, and it has since been resolved.”
Qantas said it appreciated Hope bringing the post to its attention “in such a responsible way, so we could fix the issue, which we did several months ago”.

It beggars belief that someone who was in charge of a country’s security apparatus was so naive or unaware of revealing such details in public?
 
It beggars belief that someone who was in charge of a country’s security apparatus was so naive or unaware of revealing such details in public?

Mind you I'm not sure that many "intelligent" people would know not to share their BP as well because they don't realise the ramifications
 
Mind you I'm not sure that many "intelligent" people would know not to share their BP as well because they don't realise the ramifications
Hmm. Not sure I agree on a few counts there.
 
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Just saw this and thought it would be an interesting read for a lot of us, we all know about protecting the PNR but Tony Abbott shared it publicly leading to the possible disclosure of his passport number ..
Well, no handmaidens to protect him from doing such things these days.

And not a problem that he would have encountered on RAAF VIP jets in the good ol’ days.
 
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