British Airways Hack – the things you need to know

british airways hack

Last night news started to break of a 380,000 customer data breach at British Airways, including the loss of credit card information. Read on to tell if you were impacted, and what you should do if you were …

This is the key quote from the BA press release this morning:

“From 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018 inclusive, the personal and financial details of customers making bookings on our website and app were compromised,” the airline said in a statement on its website.

My analysis of what this actually means

This is a very specific time frame, and suggests that malicious code was somehow placed on the website and app during this time.   If you did not use the website or app during this time, you will not have been exposed. If you were impacted you should have received an email from British Airways.  Here’s what you should do:

  1. Phone your bank and follow their advice. This may include cancelling the card used for the transaction
  2. Change your password on the British Airways website
  3. Change any other accounts which use the same password
  4. Be vigilant and watch your card statements and bank accounts.  British Airways have said any financial loss will be compensated so you should not be out of pocket

Even if you were not effected, be aware that fraudsters may use this as an opportunity to send scam emails. Never click on links in emails, even if they look 100% safe. Always navigate to the website using a trusted bookmark or search engine – and NEVER click on any ‘Advertisement’ links in search results!