Qantas says 6 million airline customers' data impacted by cyberattack
July 2 (UPI) -- Australian airline Qantas announced Wednesday that it was targeted by a cyberattack that led to the data of six million customers being exposed.
The company said its system has been "contained" after it detected a "cybercriminal" had breached a third-party customer servicing platform on Monday.
Qantas said all its systems remain secure, and the airline is reaching out to customers to apologize and make them aware of what happened.
The Australian Cyber Security Center and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner have also been notified, as has the Australian Federal Police.
Furthermore, Qantas said it has put "additional security measures" in place to "restrict access and strengthen system monitoring and detection," but it is unclear what those measures entail.
The company said there are six million customers who have service records in its platform, and that data stolen includes customer names and contact information, as well as birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.
Qantas' Group Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson gave an apology to customers in the release.
"Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take that responsibility seriously," Hudson said.
None of Qantas' operations were affected in the incident. Customers can connect with a team that provides specialist identity protection advice and resources and can call them on the airline's dedicated support line.
The FBI announced Friday that a cybercriminal group called Scattered Spider was "expanding its targeting to include the airline sector" by deceiving IT help desks into thinking its hackers are employees or contractors and granting them system entry.
Once inside, the FBI alleges that "Scattered Spider actors steal sensitive data for extortion and often deploy ransomware." Canada's WestJet airline company and Hawaiian Airlines had already reported security infiltrations in June.
Qantas has not confirmed if Scattered Spider was behind their breach.
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