Former prime minister Tony Abbott posted a picture of his boarding pass to Instagram.Credit:Andrew Meares
Mr Hope warned Qantas and Mr Abbott about the breach,but it shows how easily images like this can be used for identity fraud or other crimes.
Mark Gorrie,the Australia-Pacific senior director of cyber security company NortonLifeLock,said boarding passes featured information that can make it very easy for anyone to uncover more personal details than are printed on the paper.
Blogger Alex Hope used the booking reference that was visible on the boarding pass to log in to Qantas' website and was able to view personal details.Credit:Instagram
"As we saw with Tony Abbott,his passport number and phone number were easily discoverable with little effort on the part of the hacker,"Mr Gorrie said.
"Private details,such as an email,home address and phone number linked to an airline account could be exposed and even give a cyber criminal the ability to change your travel plans."
Mr Hope said he had tried to scan the barcode on Mr Abbott's pass,but then realised the booking reference was printed on it so he used that to log in to Qantas'website and found Mr Abbott's details.
He said he spent six months trying to alert Qantas and Mr Abbott to the fact that these details are so easily accessible.