Qantas hack results in theft of 6 million passengers’ personal data

Qantas, the prominent Australian airline, announced on Wednesday that it has fallen victim to a significant data breach affecting over six million passengers. The breach occurred on June 30, when a cybercriminal infiltrated one of the airline's call centers and accessed sensitive customer data. The compromised information includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and frequent flyer numbers. This incident places Qantas among several airlines that have recently faced similar security challenges. Notably, Canadian airline WestJet reported a data breach in June, which has been linked to the same group of hackers, known as Scattered Spider. In addition, Hawaiian Airlines disclosed a breach just last week. Google's security division, Mandiant, commented to TechCrunch that it is premature to determine if the Qantas incident is connected to Scattered Spider. However, they emphasized the need for airlines to remain vigilant against potential social engineering attacks in light of these recent breaches.