Australian airline Qantas victim of cyber attack

The Australian airline Qantas has been the victim of a cyber attack.

Hackers had gained access to important data of up to six million customers, including names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and frequent flyer numbers, the airline announced. A third-party platform was affected. Qantas explained that no credit card, financial or passport data was stored in the compromised system.

No impact on air traffic

Unusual activity on the platform, which is used by a Qantas call center, was first noticed on Monday, it said. The system has since been brought back under control. The cyberattack had no impact on the operation and safety of the flights, the company emphasized. Qantas is taking this incident very seriously and is working closely with government authorities and independent cyber security experts.

“We sincerely apologize to our customers and are aware of the uncertainty this has caused,” said Vanessa Hudson, Qantas Group Managing Director. “Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take this responsibility seriously.” A special customer support hotline has been set up to provide information to those affected. Last year, a glitch in the airline’s mobile app had already exposed the names and travel details of some passengers.

dpa