Hackers who accessed data belonging to Manchester Airports Group (MAG) customers have demanded a ransom, with up to 8.7 million people believed to be implicated. The incident, reported on August 27, affected Manchester Airport, London Stansted and East Midlands Airport.
Ransom demand and refusal
The ransom for the return of the data is understood to be monetary in nature, although no exact sum has been revealed. It is understood MAG has refused to pay, with advice being taken from the relevant authorities. The group behind the attack is known to MAG and the authorities but hasn't been named publicly.
Reportedly, the same group has been behind other similar cyber attacks this year against different industries across the world.
Data accessed and customer notification
Millions of airport customers were informed of the hack by MAG on Thursday (August 27). The hackers accessed data relating to car park, lounge and fast track bookings and in-airport WIFI sign-ups for all three airports. The data included people's email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes.
In the vast majority of cases, the data accessed is restricted to just the customer's email address.
MAG response and reassurance
A MAG spokesperson said: "Manchester Airports group has been subject to a cyber security incident by an unauthorised third party. A quantity of customer data has been obtained that relates to car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings and in-airport WIFI sign-ups at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports.
"We immediately contained the risk and have been working with specialist advisors and taking appropriate steps to protect our customers and systems. We have informed and are working with the relevant authorities. At no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised."
The incident has not resulted in any operational disruption. Airport operations remain unaffected and customer parking services continue to operate normally. Neither MAG nor the system accessed hold customers' bank or payment details.
In its email to customers, MAG said: "We're contacting you about a recent cyber security incident involving customer data. Our investigation has identified that some of your personal information relating to airport car parking, lounge, Fast Track bookings and on-airport WIFI sign-ups has been accessed by an unauthorised third party. Neither MAG nor the system accessed hold customers' bank or payment details.
"We took immediate action to secure the affected system and are working with cyber security specialists and the relevant authorities. There is no action you need to take. We would urge you to be particularly cautious of unexpected emails, calls or text messages claiming to be from us. We will never contact you unexpectedly to ask for payment or banking information."
