It’s not been so long since we saw a major security breach at British Airways. And now another airline has suffered the hackers’ attack and ended up compromising the data of millions of users. Cathay Pacific data breach has given access to the users’ information including names, CNICs, email addresses, telephone numbers and also physical addresses.
Cathay Pacific Data Breach
British Airways hack had compromised almost 380,000 payment cards. But, until now there are no reports about customers’ information being jeopardized as a result of Cathay Pacific data breach.
Further, the credit card number accessed by hackers were expired, no passwords were compromised in the security breach and flight information system was also not affected.
Cathay Pacific Authorities Response to Data Breach
Rupert Hog the Chief Executive of Hong Kong carrier has apologized for this security breach. In a statement, he said, “We are sorry for any concern this data security may cause for any passenger.”
He further stated that there was no evidence about personal data being misused.
Hog also told that the airline had launched an investigation with the help of a cybersecurity firm and it was also taking measures to restrict any such data breach in the future.
The impact of Cathy Pacific data breach was swift on the airlines’ shares that reportedly dropped by 6%.
Airlines’ Security Breach
Cathay Pacific data breach and British Airways hack are not the only incidents of their kind. Recently, several other airlines have suffered the same incidents. One such example is the exposure of credit card details of Delta Airlines customers and data breach of Air Canada, in August.
A Concern for Airlines?
Different airlines are trying to up their game by offering good services and comfortable journeys. They are racing with each other to offer the world’s longest ever flight so that they can grab a major share of the market for travelers who want to reach their destination without any interruption. But, it seems that these companies are missing one significant challenge of customers’ data security. The digitization of products and services has indeed done the task easier but it has made the personal information of users vulnerable to theft and breach.
So, instead of fighting to offer the longest ever flight, the airlines must work to secure their digital platforms so that customers can use them without any fear of compromising personal information.
