Now Cathay Pacific has revealed that in March this year hackers gained access to the personal details of up to 9.4 million customers of the Hong Kong-based airline.
Hackers have targeted a second international airline after the personal details of some 380,000 British Airways passengers were accessed after a data breach at the UK carrier in August and September.
Now Cathay Pacific has revealed that in March this year hackers gained access to the personal details of up to 9.4 million customers of the Hong Kong-based airline.
The compromised data included passengers’ names, nationalities, dates of birth, telephone numbers, emails, physical addresses, passport numbers, identity card numbers, frequent flier programme membership numbers, customer service remarks and travel history.
In addition, about 860,000 passport numbers and 245,000 Hong Kong identity card numbers were accessed without authorisation, along with 403 expired credit card numbers and 27 credit card numbers with no CVV.
The airline said it had no evidence the information had been misused and the compromised IT systems were separate from its flight operations systems and had no impact on flight safety.
“We are very sorry for any concern this data security event may cause our passengers,’’ Cathay chief executive Rupert Hogg said in a statement.
“We acted immediately to contain the event, commenced a thorough investigation with the assistance of a leading cyber security firm, and to further strengthen our IT security measures.
“We are in the process of contacting affected passengers, using multiple communications channels and providing them with information on steps they can take to protect themselves.
“We have no evidence that any personal data has been misused. No-one’s travel or loyalty profile was accessed in full, and no passwords were compromised.”
Cathay said it had notified the Hong Kong Police and other relevant authorities.