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Bloomberg
The UK plans to fine British Airways 183.4 million pounds ($230 million) over computer attacks that exposed customer data, marking the first major application of far-reaching European Union rules requiring companies to tighten anti-hacking measures.
The proposed penalty relates to data theft affecting about 500,000 customers between June and September last year, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which protects data privacy, said in a statement. BA parent IAG SA said the fine amounts to 1.5 percent of the airline’s 2017 revenue.
The ICO said the hack involved BA’s website traffic being diverted to a fraudulent site through which
customer details were harvested, adding that security was compromised by poor protection of functions related to log-in, payment card, and travel booking details, as well name and address information.
“We are surprised and disappointed in this initial finding from the ICO,†British Airways Chairman and CEO Alex Cruz said.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation allows, which took effect on May 25, 2018, requires companies to take technical precautions such as encryption to ensure customer data is protected.