Air Côte d’Ivoire reveals cyberattack: “some data was stolen”
Air Côte d'Ivoire, the flag carrier of the Ivory Coast, was hit with a cyberattack earlier this month. Business operations continued as normal, but some data was stolen by the attackers.
In the early hours of Sunday, February 8th, 2026, IT employees of the airline company of the West African country discovered a “cybersecurity incident,” affecting parts of the company’s information system.
Upon detection and according to the company’s continuity plans, technical teams deployed security protocols to ensure the continuation of the airline’s flights and other operations. However, the teams couldn’t prevent the exfiltration of an unknown quantity of files containing data.
As soon as the data breach came to light, the National Cybersecurity Agency of Côte d’Ivoire (ANSSI-CI) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Côte d'Ivoire (ARTCI) were informed.
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Security experts of the Côte d’Ivoire Computer Emergency Response Team (CI-CERT) and international experts are currently looking into the incident to determine the origin and extent of the data breach, and to strengthen the security of the airline company’s IT environment.
“Air Côte d’Ivoire, aware of the risks that the data leak could pose to its service providers, passengers, and employees, is working closely with the relevant authorities to mitigate the consequences. It assures the public that its flight schedule and operations will continue as normal, in strict compliance with international security standards,” the airline company said in a press release that was published on social media platform X.
Air Côte d’Ivoire doesn’t say who’s responsible for the incident or if any ransom demands have been made.
According to security threat intelligence platform Hackmanac, INC Ransom has claimed to have breached the airline company. Allegedly, the ransomware operation has stolen 194GB of data.
INC Ransom was first noted in July 2023 and has claimed to have attacked hundreds of companies since then, including Xerox and NHS Scotland. According to Cybernews’ Ransomlooker, INC Ransom is one of the most active ransomware gangs out there.
INC Ransom is considered a multi-extortion operation, meaning it not only encrypts and steals its target’s data but then threatens to publish it online if the victim doesn’t come up with the ransom money.
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