Qantas knowledge breach to influence 6 million airline prospects

Tabby Wilson

BBC Information, Sydney

The airline says there can be no influence to Qantas’ operations

Qantas is contacting prospects after a cyber assault focused their third-party customer support platform.

On 30 June, the Australian airline detected “uncommon exercise” on a platform utilized by its contact centre to retailer the info of six million individuals, together with names, e-mail addresses, cellphone numbers, start dates and frequent flyer numbers.

Upon detection of the breach, Qantas took “quick steps and contained the system”, in response to a press release.

The corporate continues to be investigating the complete extent of the breach, however says it’s anticipating the proportion of knowledge stolen to be “important”.

It has assured the general public that passport particulars, bank card particulars and private monetary data weren’t held within the breached system, and no frequent flyer accounts, passwords or PIN numbers have been compromised.

Qantas has notified the Australian Federal Police of the breach, in addition to the Australian Cyber Safety Centre and the Workplace of the Australian Data Commissioner.

“We sincerely apologise to our prospects and we recognise the uncertainty this can trigger,” mentioned Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson.

She requested prospects to name the devoted help line if they’d issues, and confirmed that there can be no influence to Qantas’ operations or the protection of the airline.

The assault comes simply days after the FBI issued an alert on X warning that the airline sector was a goal of cyber legal group Scattered Spider.

US-based Hawaiian Airways and Canada’s WestJet have each been impacted by related cyber assaults previously two weeks.

BBC revealed that the group has additionally been the important thing focus of an investigation into the wave of cyber assaults on UK retailers, together with M&S.

The Qantas breach is the most recent in a string of Australian knowledge breaches this 12 months, with AustralianSuper and 9 Media struggling important leaks previously few months.

In March 2025, the Workplace of the Australian Data Commissioner (OAIC) launched statistics revealing that 2024 was the worst 12 months for knowledge breaches in Australia since information started in 2018.

“The tendencies we’re observing recommend the specter of knowledge breaches, particularly via the efforts of malicious actors, is unlikely to decrease,” mentioned Australian Privateness Commissioner Carly Form in a press release from the OAIC.

Ms Form urged companies and authorities businesses to step up safety measures and knowledge safety, and highlighted that each the personal and public sectors are susceptible to cyber assaults.