Australia's Qantas confirms cyber incident at contact centre, customer data exposed
Qantas added that the system is currently contained, with no effect on its operations or the safety of the airline.
SYDNEY - Australia's Qantas Airways confirmed t he occurrence of a cyber incident at one of its contact centres on July 2, impacting customer data.
The company said the breach occurred when a cybercriminal targeted a call centre and accessed a third-party customer servicing platform.
Qantas said the platform contains around six million customers with service records, but did not mention whether the accounts were also based outside Australia.
The initial review confirmed the data includes some customers' names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.
However, financial information such as credit card details, and separately, passport details are not held in the affected system.
'We are continuing to investigate the proportion of the data that has been stolen, though we expect it will be significant,' Qantas said in a statement.
'No frequent flyer accounts were compromised nor have passwords, PIN numbers or log in details been accessed,' it added.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
World US Senate approves divisive Trump spending Bill
Singapore A second chance to excel: 3,800 private candidates taking O- and A-level exams in 2025
Multimedia Right on track: Meet the new JB-Singapore RTS Link train
Opinion US strikes on Iran: The impact ripples on, from Baghdad to Beijing
Singapore 'He fought till the end': Man who survived acid attack as a baby dies of cancer at 26
Singapore Judge rejects woman's claim that she owns 99% of Bukit Timah condo mostly paid for by ex-boyfriend
Asia Thai PM's suspension could spell end of Shinawatra clan's era of political dominance
Life Sean 'Diddy' Combs jury asks to review Casandra Ventura's testimony
The airline added that the system is currently contained, with no effect on its operations or the safety of the airline.
The company has also notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, along with alerting the Australian Federal Police, 'given the criminal nature of this incident.'
The Australian Federation of Pilots, Australian Cyber Security Centre and Office of the Australian Information Commissioner did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments on the matter. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
33 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
Huge explosion at Rome petrol station injures 45 people, World News
ROME — A huge explosion at a petrol station in an eastern district of Rome on Friday (July 4) injured at least 45 people, including 12 police officers and six firefighters, Italian authorities said. The blast at the distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the working class Prenestino neighbourhood was heard across the capital just after 8am (2pm Singapore time). The people hit by the explosion are being treated in local hospitals, Italian news agencies reported, with two in a critical condition due to extensive burns and needing ventilation support. Website Roma Today published a photograph of a huge ball of flame and smoke rising high into the sky. Separate images released by the fire department showed the petrol station almost completely gutted. "I pray for the people involved in the explosion of a gas station (...) in the heart of my Diocese. I continue to follow the developments of this tragic incident with concern," Pope Leo XIV wrote on X. Firefighters and ambulance workers were caught up in the blast as they had been called to the scene earlier, after a truck hit a pipeline at the petrol station, Italian media said. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, speaking from the scene, told reporters an incident during fuel-tank refilling operations was suspected, causing a gas leak, followed by a fire and the explosion. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked the police, firefighters and other emergency services for helping to ensure "that this tragic event didn't have even more serious consequences". A sports centre that hosts a youth summer camp opposite the station was evacuated before the blast, a representative said in a Facebook video, adding that the five children in its care were safe and back with their families. The station sported the brand of Eni but was not owned by the Italian energy group, the company said in a statement. Five people were killed in December last year by an explosion at an Eni fuel depot near Florence. ALSO READ: 7 people missing from massive explosion at California fireworks facility
AsiaOne
an hour ago
- AsiaOne
UK's Palestine Action loses bid to pause ban as terrorist group, World News
LONDON — Pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action's co-founder on Friday (July 4) lost a bid to pause the British government's decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, with the group losing an urgent appeal meaning it will be banned from midnight. Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London's High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, before a full hearing of her case that banning the group is unlawful later this month. The High Court refused to pause the ban and, following a late-night hearing, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against that decision at just after 9.30pm GMT (5.30am Singapore time). British lawmakers this week decided to ban Palestine Action after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group says is Britain's support for Israel. Proscription will make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment. The group accuses the British government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023. Ammori's lawyer Raza Husain said the proscription marked the first time Britain had sought to ban a group carrying out such direct action, describing it as "an ill-considered, discriminatory, authoritarian abuse of statutory power". Critics of the government's decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, have also argued that damaging property does not amount to terrorism. Defence firms targeted The group has particularly focused on Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems and Britain's government cited a raid at an Elbit site last year when it decided to proscribe the group. The decision to ban the group came as four members were charged over the incident at the RAF Brize Norton air base, in which military planes were sprayed with red paint. Husain said that was the only example of action targeting a government or military facility and previous incidents were against private companies, to support his argument against proscribing Palestine Action. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Britain's interior minister, has said violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that Palestine Action's activities justify proscription. Judge Martin Chamberlain earlier ruled against Ammori's bid to pause the ban, saying that any harm to Palestine Action members or supporters did not outweigh "the strong public interest in maintaining the order" to ban the group. ALSO READ: Hamas warns Palestinians against cooperating with US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
AsiaOne
an hour ago
- AsiaOne
Russia pounds Kyiv with largest drone attack, hours after Trump-Putin call, World News
KYIV — Russia pummelled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, killing one person, injuring at least 23 and damaging buildings across the capital hours after US President Donald Trump spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin, officials said on Friday (July 4). Air raid sirens, the whine of kamikaze drones and booming detonations reverberated from early evening until dawn as Russia launched what Ukraine's Air Force said was a total of 539 drones and 11 missiles. Families huddled in underground metro stations for shelter and acrid smoke hung over the city centre. Kyiv's military administration chief said on Friday afternoon a body had been found in the wreckage of one of the strike sites. Outside a high-rise apartment block damaged by a drone, residents stood around surveying the scene as the clean-up job began. Some cried. Others looked on silently. "I woke up to the sound of explosions, first the Shahed drones started buzzing, and then the explosions began," said 40-year-old resident Maria Hilchenko. "Then people started screaming outside. The explosions from the Shaheds kept coming." Shahed drones are an Iranian design, a variant of which is now manufactured in Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the attack "deliberately massive and cynical", noting the first sirens blared as news came in of Putin and Trump's call. Later on Friday Zelenskiy spoke to Trump and the pair agreed to work on increasing Kyiv's capability to "defend the sky". He added they discussed joint defence production, as well as joint purchases and investments. The US has paused some deliveries of missiles amid concerns about low stockpiles. Kyiv officials said the attack damaged about 40 apartment blocks, passenger railway infrastructure, five schools and kindergartens, cafes and many cars in six of Kyiv's 10 districts. Poland said the consular section of its embassy was damaged in central Kyiv, adding that staff were unharmed. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said a Chinese component had been found in one of the Shahed drones attacking Kyiv, adding it had been found shortly after China's consulate in the southern city of Odesa suffered minor damage in a separate strike. "What an irony," Sybiha wrote on X. Russian airstrikes on Kyiv have intensified in recent weeks and included some of the deadliest assaults of the war on the city of three million people. Russia's Defence Ministry said drone factories, a military airfield and an oil refinery were among targets it struck in Kyiv with what it called high-precision weapons. Ukraine did not give details of any militarily valuable targets. [[nid:719841]] Call for sanctions Trump said that the call with President Putin on Thursday resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war, and the Kremlin reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict's "root causes". The decision by Washington to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying airstrikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems to bridge the gap. On Friday, Zelenskiy called for increased pressure on Moscow to change its "dumb, destructive behaviour". "For every such strike against people and human life, they must feel appropriate sanctions and other blows to their economy, their revenues, and their infrastructure," he said. Ukraine's Air Force said it destroyed 478 of the air weapons Russia launched overnight. Airstrikes were recorded in eight locations, with nine missiles and 63 drones, it added. Social media videos showed people running to seek shelter, firefighters fighting blazes in the dark and ruined buildings with windows and facades blown out. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched with its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Many more soldiers are believed to have been killed on the front line, but neither side releases military casualty figures. Late on Thursday, Russian shelling killed five people in and near the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Ukraine said. ALSO READ: Russian air defences down dozens of Ukrainian drones, including 2 near St Petersburg
