Posted on September 7, 2018 at 1:06 PM
Airline Hacking: 380,000 Payment Details of British Airways Stolen
At least 380, 000 customers of the British Airways have had their financial and personal details stolen due to the hacking the airline recently suffered. Investigations on the security breach are on even as the airline operators call for calm.
For a period of close to two weeks (August 21 to September 5), British Airways recorded a severe breach of its data by hackers. This has led to the theft of the financial and personal details belonging to hundreds of thousands of its customers.
In a swift response to this invasion, British Airways says it has reported to the police to help get to the root of the matter. As such, an “urgent” investigation into the circumstances surrounding the hacking is said to be on the way.
We are investigating the theft of customer data from our website and our mobile app, as a matter of urgency. For more information, please click the following link:https://t.co/2dMgjw1p4r
— British Airways (@British_Airways) September 6, 2018
It, however, noted that customers’ passport and travel details were not among the information compromised by the hackers.
The airline enjoins its customers who made bookings on ba.com or on the airline’s app to immediately consult their credit card providers or banks for cancellation.
While reacting to the unfortunate incidence, the airline’s chairman Alex Crux apologized for the “the disruption” that the criminal activity may have caused its teeming customers. He further restated the commitment of the airline to maintaining the safety of their customers’ data.
“We Were Not Personally Contacted,” Customers Allege
Some of the affected customers have claimed they did not receive any official notification regarding the hack from the company.
A 34-year-old Daniel Willis from Milton Keynes that booked on Monday said he only got to know about the hacking in a Tweet. While expressing his disappointment, Daniel said,
“I saw the tweet; that was the first I knew of it. This is my first involvement with BA since they left me stranded with my wife and 2-year-old daughter for a few days in Dusseldorf in December – again with no communication. I’ve not heard from them on this and I’ve just had to cancel the card I used. They’re shambles.”
Another customer, Stephanie Jowers from NY claimed she queried the airline based on certain changes she noticed on her credit card account. According to her, this was just some hours before BA disclosed that its data have been compromised. She was unhappy that the airline did not inform her of a possible theft on her card despite its knowledge of such.
Airline May Have Flouted Operation Rules
GDPR rules clearly state that airline companies must alert their customers within 72 hours when it becomes known to them that their data has been breached. The rule says if such breach amounts to the violation of customers’ freedoms and rights, the affected company must never delay in informing its customers.
This data breach is coming barely a week after Air Canada revealed a breach in the data of more than 20, 000 of its customers. The company’s Thomas Cook confessed that vital details such as emails and names were accessed. This followed an earlier claim by the airline company that the number of customers directly affected was less than 100.
