Qantas Airways has become the latest major Australian company to have been hit by a cyberattack, revealing on Wednesday that hackers have stolen personal customer data from a call centre.
An initial review of the incident showed the stolen data includes customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and birthdates, as well as frequent flyer numbers, Qantas said in a statement to the ASX on Wednesday.
However, no credit card details, personal financial information or passport details were held on the hacked platform, and no frequent flyer accounts were compromised. The system was “now contained,” the airline said.
Qantas has been the target of a cyber attack.Credit: Bloomberg
There was no impact on Qantas’ operations or the safety of the airline, it added.
The event occurred when hackers targeted one of Qantas’ call centres and gained access to a third-party customer servicing platform.
About 6 million customers have service records on the platform. While the airline is still investigating how much of their data has been stolen, it warned that “we expect it will be significant”.
Qantas is now in the process of contacting customers about the breach, CEO Vanessa Hudson said, and “our focus is on providing them with the necessary support”.
“We sincerely apologise to our customers, and we recognise the uncertainty this will cause,” she said. “Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take that responsibility seriously.”
Given the “criminal nature” of the incident, Qantas has notified the Australian Federal Police, in addition to the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian Information Commissioner.
