Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has confirmed a major cyber security incident affecting customers of Manchester Airport, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. The group became aware of the incident on Tuesday, August 25, with the attack believed to have occurred a few days earlier.
What data was accessed
Hackers accessed data related to car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings, as well as in-airport Wi-Fi sign-ups across all three airports. The compromised data included customers' email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes.
For the 'vast majority' of the 8.7 million customers affected, the data hack is restricted to email addresses, according to a MAG spokesperson. The security incident did not reveal any bank details.
Email sent to affected customers
Affected customers have been sent an email explaining the situation. The email states: "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."
The email adds: "We took immediate action to secure the affected system and are working with cyber security specialists and the relevant authorities." It also advises customers to "be particularly cautious of unexpected emails, calls or text messages claiming to be from us" and reassures them that "there is no action you need to take."
Containment and reassurance
MAG stressed that it will never contact customers unexpectedly to request payment or banking information. All upcoming bookings remain valid and are unaffected by the incident.
In a statement, a MAG spokesperson said: "We immediately contained the risk and have been working with specialist advisors and taking appropriate steps to protect our customers and systems." The spokesperson added that "at no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised" and that "airport operations remain unaffected and customer parking services continue to operate normally."
