We imagine that airline companies are a treasure trove of sensitive information. After all we usually provide them with information such as credit card details, our home addresses, identity card numbers, passport information, and more, all of which are usually required when tickets are purchased online.Unfortunately for Cathay Pacific customers, it seems that a recent data breach reported by the company has resulted in 9.4 million passengers having been affected. In a statement made by Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Rupert Hogg, “We are very sorry for any concern this data security event may cause our passengers. We acted immediately to contain the event, commence a thorough investigation with the assistance of a leading cybersecurity firm, and to further strengthen our IT security measures.”
According to the company, they first discovered suspicious activity on its network earlier this year in March, and it was only in May that they managed to confirm that personal data had been accessed. This personal data includes names, nationalities, date of birth, phone numbers, email and physical address, passport numbers, identity card numbers, and also historical travel information.
The company says that they have since reached out to the affected customers to inform them on how they can better protect themselves.