Cyber Attack on Three UK Airports Exposes Data of 8.7 Million Customers

A cyber attack targeting three major UK airports has resulted in the theft of personal data belonging to approximately 8.7 million customers. The Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which operates Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports, confirmed that an unauthorized third party accessed the systems. The stolen information includes email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and postcodes. This data was linked to in airport wifi sign ups as well as bookings for lounges, car parks, and fast track services.

MAG stated that the risk was immediately contained and that the company is working with specialist advisers and relevant authorities. The group emphasized that passenger safety and aviation security were not compromised at any point. Furthermore, the hacked system did not contain any bank or payment details. Airport operations and customer parking services remained unaffected by the incident, which occurred during the peak summer travel season.

London Stansted urged affected customers to be cautious of unexpected communications claiming to be from the airport, noting that they will never unexpectedly ask for banking information or payment. The scale of the breach is significant given the volume of traffic at these hubs; combined, the three airports handled 54 million passengers last year. Legal experts noted that the high volume of data collected for airport services increases the threat of such attacks, while some reports highlighted this event as part of a broader trend of cyber attacks targeting British national infrastructure and companies.