Qantas has confirmed a “significant” cyber incident at one of its contact centres with the data of around six million customers at risk.
The national carrier said the system had been locked down and the hack “contained” but warned it was still working to understand how much information had been stolen.
“We understand this will be concerning for customers. We are currently contacting customers to make them aware of the incident, apologise and provide details on the support available,” Qantas said in a statement.
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“The incident occurred when a cyber criminal targeted a call centre and gained access to a third party customer servicing platform.
“There is no impact to Qantas’ operations or the safety of the airline.”
Qantas said it had detected “unusual activity” on Monday via a third party platform used by its contact centre.
“We then took immediate steps and contained the system. We can confirm all Qantas systems remain secure,” the airline said.
“There are six million customers that have service records in this platform.
“We are continuing to investigate the proportion of the data that has been stolen, though we expect it will be significant.
“An initial review has confirmed the data includes some customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.”
Qantas confirmed customers’ credit card details, personal financial information and passport details were not held in the hacked system.
“No frequent flyer accounts were compromised nor have passwords, PIN numbers or log in details been accessed,” the airline said.
The national carrier said it was putting in extra security to restrict access to its systems.
“Qantas has notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,” the airline said.
“Given the criminal nature of this incident, the Australian Federal Police has also been notified.
“We will continue to support these agencies as the investigation continues.”
The airline has also established a dedicated customer support line and has put a dedicated page on its website to keep customers updated.
“We sincerely apologise to our customers and we recognise the uncertainty this will cause. Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take that responsibility seriously,” Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson said.
Customers can contact Qantas’ dedicated support line on 1800 971 541 or +61 2 8028 0534 and will have access to specialist identity protection advice and resources through the team.
“If customers have upcoming travel there is nothing they need to do,” the airline added.
“Customers can check their flight details at any time via the Qantas App or website.”
