Cathay Pacific says a Hacker has Accessed 9.4 Million Customers Personal Information

A hacker has accessed 9.4 million customers' personal information as per the Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., and thus it became the biggest airline data breach of the world.

The shares of the Hong Kong-based carrier (i.e. the airline) fell the most in a day in the past two years, shaving off $201 million of its market value, when the airline disclosed about its unauthorized access on October 24, 2018, seven months after they themselves discovered about the violation. The Hong Kong-based carrier said that while addresses, emails and passports were exposed, the flight safety has not been compromised. However, the carrier has not revealed any details about the origin of attack.

As posted by telegraph.co.uk on October 24, 2018, the names, home addresses, date of birth, passport numbers, email and nationalities of customers were exposed in the hack. However, it is believed that the passwords were not accessed. Although the stolen customer personal information is very valuable to the hackers as they can sell that information, the company said that they have no proof which suggests that any stolen information was misused after the data breach.

The airline has admitted that around 860,000 passport numbers, 403 credit card numbers that got expired, 27 credit card numbers having no CVV (Card Verification Value) and 245,000 identity card numbers of Hong Kong were accessed.

In recent months, this is second incident of high-profile airline hack that came to light. The company has launched an investigation. Also, the cops of Hong Kong were alerted regarding the breach of data and are themselves "notifying the relevant authorities", as per the airline. Any customer of the Cathay Pacific Airways having concerns about the breach has been advised to check with the dedicated website about the hack.

Cathay Pacific Airways said that after discovering about the hack, they have taken prompt actions for containing the event, and also started a thorough investigation with assistance from a cybersecurity firm. The airline further bolstered their network security.

As per the British Airways, the system hack took place in the Months of August and September and prolonged for two weeks and more. In the process, it compromised the credit card data of around 380,000 customers.

» SPAMfighter News - 10/30/2018