The British authority in charge of the protection of personal data (ICO) has imposed a fine of 183 million pounds on the airline company British Airways (British Airways) after the theft of financial data of several hundred thousand passengers during 2018.
"We are surprised and disappointed by the decision of the ICO," said the CEO of the British airline, Alex Crews, and added that British Airways reacted quickly to the crime of stealing personal data of its customers.
Willie Walsh, managing director of IAG, the parent company of British Airways, said he would speak with representatives of the ICO about a possible appeal against the financial penalty decision.
At the end of September 2018, British Airways announced that it was the target of a hacker attack, following a computer failure. The company then reported the theft of the financial data of about 380.000 customers. Then, a month later, it stated that the theft related to the data of 244.000 customers, not 380.000.
Data with personal names, home and e-mail addresses of clients, as well as bank card data, with account number, card expiration date and a three-digit protected code were stolen.
The company later announced that the data of other clients, about 185.000 of them, had been stolen earlier.
The British Airways fine of exactly 183,390 million pounds (204 million euros) represents 1,5 percent of the company's annual business in 2017.
The company previously stated that it would compensate the affected customers financially. Today, British Airways reiterated that it has not received any information about the theft of money from customers whose data was stolen.
Bonus video:
