East Midlands Airport customer data accessed in cyber incident
Customer data affected but aviation security remains uncompromised
East Midlands Airport has been affected by a cyber security incident, resulting in the unauthorised access of customer data, according to the Manchester Airport Group (MAG).
MAG, which manages East Midlands Airport as well as Manchester and London Stansted airports, reported that around 8.7 million customers had their data accessed.
However, the company assured that passenger safety and aviation security were never compromised during the incident.
MAG stated that neither their systems nor those hacked contained bank or payment details of customers.
The majority of the data accessed included email addresses related to wifi sign-ups within airport terminals.
Additional information such as phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and postcodes were also obtained.
Despite the breach, airport operations were reported as "unaffected," including East Midlands Airport, which serves around four million passengers each year.
MAG's spokesperson said on Thursday: "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."
They added that the risk was immediately contained, and specialist advisors are assisting in taking proper measures to protect customers and systems.
MAG is collaborating with relevant authorities during this matter.
"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.”
The data breach does not involve customers' bank or payment details.
Affected customers can be reassured that "Manchester Airport Group takes the security of customer information extremely seriously" and the company apologised for any inconvenience.
East Midlands Airport, located in Leicestershire, serves a significant number of passengers each year, with four million travellers recorded last year.