Qantas data breach: Airline confirms hacker made contact after attack
What's the story
Australian airline Qantas has confirmed that it has been contacted by a potential cybercriminal. The confirmation comes after a major security breach in its network, which compromised the personal records of millions of customers. A spokesperson for Qantas said they are currently working to validate this contact and have engaged with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) over this matter.
Ongoing investigation
'No evidence of personal data being released'
The spokesperson for Qantas said, "As this is a criminal matter, we have engaged the Australian federal police and won't be commenting any further on the detail of the contact." He also added that there is no evidence of any personal data stolen from Qantas being released. The airline continues to monitor with the help of specialist cybersecurity experts. An AFP spokesperson confirmed their involvement in the investigation but said further comments would be made at an "appropriate time."
Data breach details
Qantas recently suffered a major cyber attack
On July 2, Qantas suffered a major cyber attack that may have compromised the personal information of up to six million customers. The data breach included customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates. A cybercriminal reportedly targeted a call center and accessed a third-party system containing this information. However, Qantas clarified that credit card details, financial information, or passport details were not included in the breach.
Security measures
Alleged culprit behind attack remains unidentified
Qantas has also clarified that no frequent flyer accounts were compromised in the cyber attack. Passwords, PINs, and login details were not accessed either. The airline is working with authorities to investigate the incident and has been highly engaged with them throughout this process. The alleged culprit behind the attack remains unidentified but it bears similarities to a ransomware group known as Scattered Spider.