by Jean Hudson, KUAM NewsSunday, December 11, 2005
The computer virus that caused the passwords for restricted airport areas to be released through the Internet from a Japan Airlines co-pilot's personal computer is still under investigation. Passwords were inadvertently released for restricted areas at sixteen Japanese airports and the A.B. Won Pat International Airport locally.According to wire reports, JAL first learned of the leaks last week. The company then informed the airports involved and requested that they change their passwords. The data got out from a 29-year-old Boeing 767 co-pilot's computer through a virus infecting a file-sharing program he had installed. Most of the sixteen airports in Japan have changed their data.Edith Pangelinan, deputy executive manager of the Guam International Airport Authority, says they immediately changed all security access codes as well. The airline has not yet decided whether to take disciplinary action against the co-pilot.