Qantas faces cyber attack compromising millions of frequent flyer accounts

The hackers detailed compromised records including full names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and Frequent Flyer numbers. They provided a sample of what they had obtained and set a 72-hour deadline for Qantas to respond. By July 7, hackers followed up with more information and possible consequences if negotiations were not initiated.

Qantas eventually responded with correspondence also provided to the Supreme Court under the subject line 'Reaching Out'. This led to multiple email exchanges between Qantas and the hackers.

Investigations are ongoing as Qantas works with the National Cyber Security Coordinator at the Australian Cyber Security Centre and Australian Federal Police. Meanwhile, affected customers are being contacted progressively. According to Cyberdaily.au, all Frequent Flyer accounts remain secure with no PINs or passwords shared.

Approximately 5.7 million customers were impacted: four million had their name, email, and frequent flier numbers shared; within this group, 1.2 million also had their email address shared; 2.8 million had additional tier details shared; other details include phone numbers for 900,000 customers; gender for 400,000; and meal preferences for 10,000.

Qantas is Australia's largest airline by fleet size and operates international flights as well as domestic services from its main hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.