Hackers attacked easyJet airlines, 9 million users injured

It became known that hackers attacked the British easyJet airlines. EasyJet representatives said that the low-cost company became the victim of a “sophisticated hacker attack”, as a result of an attack, data of 9,000,000 users, including email addresses, names and travel data, fell into the hands of unnamed third parties.

Also, due to compromise in the hands of criminals came data of 2208 bankcards.

“Our investigation found that hackers accessed the email address and travel details of approximately 9 million customers. Affected customers will be contacted in the next few days. If you are not contacted, your information has not been accessed. Other information except referenced in the following paragraph, as customer’s passport details and credit card details were not accessed”, – report easyJet representatives.

While the company does not explain exactly when and how the incident occurred, it is reported that EasyJet notified the Office of the Commissioner for Information and the National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) about the incident, and also involved outside experts in the field of cybercriminality in the investigation.

According to the company, there is no evidence that any personal information of any kind was misused. However, on the recommendation of the ICO, EasyJet representatives contacted approximately 9 million customers, whose travel data was available to inform them of protective measures to minimize any risk of potential phishing.

“We would like to apologize to those customers who suffered from this incident. Since we were aware of the incident, it became clear that because of COVID-19, everyone is extremely worried about the use of personal data for online fraud. Therefore, following the recommendations of the Information Commissioner’s Office, we are already contacting customers whose travel information has been compromised”, – said the airlines representatives.

The company advises all its customers to be vigilant, especially if they receive unwanted messages. They are also advised to open messages with caution, regarding easyJet holidays.

“We take the cyber security of our systems very seriously and have robust security measures in place to protect our customers’ personal information. However, this is an evolving threat as cyber attackers get ever more sophisticated. Every business must continue to stay agile, to stay ahead of the threat. We will continue to invest in protecting our customers, our systems, and our data”, — sais easyJet Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren.

Customers of easyJet can also find further advice at www.actionfraud.police.co.uk.

Incidents with hacking airlines and aircraft engineering companies, it seems, are now not uncommon. For example, we talked about how Avionics of small planes is vulnerable to attacks with the replacement of telemetry. And also recommend reading an article about a high-profile espionage scandal with the development of its passenger aircraft in China.