BA HACK
British Airways HACKED with 380,000 customers’ bank details stolen from website
The airline said around 380,000 payment cards had been compromised and it had notified the police
BRITISH Airways is investigating after being hacked - with 380,000 customers' bank details and data stolen from their website.
The personal and financial details of customers making bookings between August 21 and September 5 on the airline's website were stolen, BA said.
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The stolen data didn't include travel or passport details.
A statement said: "British Airways is investigating, as a matter of urgency, the theft of customer data from its website, ba.com and the airline's mobile app.
"From 10.58pm on August 21 until 9.45pm on September 5 2018 inclusive, the personal and financial details of customers making bookings on ba.com and the airline's app were compromised.
"The breach has been resolved and our website is working normally.
Have you been affected? If so, please contact [email protected] or call 0207 782 4678
"British Airways is communicating with affected customers and we advise any customers who believe they may have been affected by this incident to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their recommended advice.
"We have notified the police and relevant authorities."
A spokesman told the Sun Online that 380,000 payment card details were stolen.
The company said the breach had been resolved and the website was now working normally.
Alex Cruz, British Airways' chairman and chief executive, said in a statement: "We are deeply sorry for the disruption that this criminal activity has caused.
"We take the protection of our customers' data very seriously."
What to do if your details have been hacked
IF you made a booking with British Airways between August 21 and September 5 then your bank details are likely to be at risk. Here's what you need to do:
- Check your account for any payments that have been made without you knowing about them,
- Contact your bank or credit card provider if you think that your details have been compromised,
- Change your online passwords,
- Report anything suspicious to the police and Action Fraud,
- Be wary of any suspicious emails or phone calls claiming to be from British Airways incase they are from scammers trying to take advantage of the situation.
The National Crime Agency said it was aware of the data breach affecting BA and was consulting with partners, including the National Cyber Security Centre, to assess the best course of action.
A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said they would be making inquiries about the data theft.
Alex Neill of Which? said: "British Airways customers will be concerned to hear about this data breach. It is now vital that the company moves quickly to ensure those affected get clear information about what has happened and what steps they should take to protect themselves.
"Anyone concerned they could be at risk of fraud should consider changing their online passwords, monitor bank and other online accounts and be wary of emails regarding the breach as scammers may try and take advantage of it."
This is not the first customer relations problem to affect the airline in recent times.
How to keep yourself safe from hackers and scammers
HERE's how to stay safe online
- Make a 'strong' password with 8 or more characters and a combination of upper case characters, numbers and symbols
- Don't do online banking on public WiFi, unless absolutely necessary
- Don't click on dodgy email links claiming to be from banks
- Use different passwords for different sites
- Never re-use your main email password
- Use anti-virus software
- Don't accept Facebook friend requests or LinkedIn invitations from people you don't know
- Think before you put personal info on social media
- Find My iPhone, Android Lost and BlackBerry Protect all allow you to remotely wipe a stolen phone. Set this feature up
- Only shop online on secure sites
- Don't store your card details on websites
- Password protect your phone and other devices
In 2017 a computer meltdown forced British Airways to cancel 726 flights over three days.
It left 75,000 passengers stranded and lost the company around £100million.
Its chief executive said at the time it would take steps to ensure such an incident never happened again.
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But in July this year another IT issue at BA led to further flight cancellations and delays, affecting more than 10,000 passengers.
The month before, more than 2,000 BA passengers had their tickets cancelled because the prices were too cheap.
BA apologised for the error on flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai, but customers said they were angry their tickets were not being honoured.
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