United bolsters security for MileagePlus
United Airlines is releasing a new security measure to protect its MileagePlus members who may not have created different passwords for their banking, airline or social media accounts.
When hackers gain access to a person’s password — often through data breaches or viruses on public computers that record keystrokes — they will try that password on other accounts. If they try to access a United MileagePlus account, they now will be confronted by another level of security, said Ben Vaughn, director of IT security intelligence.
On Thursday night and Friday morning, the airline is introducing security that will require members to answer security questions when logging in from an unrecognized device. After the rollout, everyone will have to answer the questions when they next log in from their smartphones, computers and tablets. They can register that device and won’t have to answer the questions again.
Vaughn said the airline started asking MileagePlus members to answer its security questions in February. Instead of typing answers, which carries the risk of keystrokes being recorded, members chose from options in a drop-down menu.