On Monday, Australian airline Qantas confirmed it received an extortion demand following the June 30 cyberattack and data breach at one of its call centers.
Last week, Qantas disclosed that hackers gained access to a third-party platform used by its contact center and stole data from the system.
The compromised platform held service records for 6 million customers, including personal details such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and frequent flyer numbers.
The affected system was quickly secured, and no Qantas systems were breached. The airline also confirmed that its operations were not disrupted.
In a July 7 update, Qantas stated that no further malicious activity has been detected on the compromised platform. It also said frequent flyer accounts were not impacted, and no credit card, passport, or financial data was involved in the breach.
The airline revealed that the hacker has made contact, and it is currently working to verify the claims.
“As this is a criminal matter, we have contacted the Australian Federal Police and will not share further details about the communication,” Qantas stated.
The company added that there is no indication any stolen data has been made public. It is continuing to monitor online sources and investigate the scope of the data breach.
Qantas has sent an initial email alert to all members of its Frequent Flyer program, as well as a separate message to all customers aged 15 and above, informing them of the breach. This week, an additional update will be sent to affected customers with more specific details about the compromised information.
The airline also warned that scammers are impersonating Qantas to deceive customers into sharing passwords, booking references, and other sensitive details through emails, texts, and phone calls.
“We are aware of reports involving scam attempts posing as Qantas. This is unfortunately common after events like this. We advise customers to stay cautious and avoid responding to suspicious messages requesting personal information or login credentials,” the airline said.
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