British Airways hacked with details of 380,000 bank cards stolen
British Airways said that the personal and financial details of customers who made bookings between August 21 and September 5 had been stolen in a data breach involving as many as 380,000 bank cards. The almost two-week long hack did not involve travel or passport details, the airline said, adding that it launched an urgent investigation into the theft of customer data. Here's more.
Breach has been resolved, website working normally: BA
"The personal and financial details of customers making bookings on our website and app were compromised," BA said. "The breach has been resolved and our website is working normally. We've notified the police and relevant authorities," it said. BA said the breach took place between 2158 GMT on August 21 and 2045 GMT on September 5 and that around 380,000 payment cards were compromised.
BA advises affected customers to contact their respective banks
BA advised anyone who believed they may have been affected to contact their bank or credit card provider and follow their recommendations. In terms of compensation, BA said they would be in touch with customers and will manage any claims on an individual basis. "We are deeply sorry for the disruption that this criminal activity has caused," the airline said.
A data breach-affected customer complains of not being informed
British Airways said customers due to travel could check online as the incident had been resolved. BA customer Daniel Willis, 34, who booked a flight on Monday, said he hadn't been contacted by the airline despite being affected by the data breach. "I've not heard anything from them and I've just had to cancel the card I used," he said.
National Crime Agency says they're working on the issue
The National Crime Agency said, "We're aware of reports of the data breach and are working with partners to assess the best course of action." The NCA is set up to tackle the most organized crime posing the highest risk to public security in Britain.
This isn't the first time BA has suffered 'technical glitches'
BA apologized in July after technology issues caused dozens of its flights to and from London Heathrow Airport to be canceled. The airline said the problem was down to an incident with an IT system. And in May 2017, British Airways suffered a major computer system failure triggered by a power supply issue near Heathrow which left 75,000 customers stranded.
Despite such glitches, company owning BA is earning good profits
IAG, which owns British Airways, said last month that its first-half profits more than doubled. Earnings after taxation flew to €1.4bn in the first six months of 2018 compared with €607mn a year earlier, IAG said in a statement. The London-listed group, which is also the owner of Irish airline Aer Lingus and Spanish carrier Vueling, added that total revenues swelled 3% to €11.2bn.
