Hackers who hit three British airports have demanded a ransom to return the personal data stolen from around 8.7 million customers. This was revealed by the Manchester Evening Newsaccording to which Manchester Airports Group (Mag), the company that manages the airports involved, refused to pay, following the instructions of the competent authorities.
The cyber attack affected Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. The criminal group responsible for the action would already be known to both the company and the British authorities, but its name has not been made public. The same hackers, according to the local newspaper, would have conducted other similar attacks against companies and organizations in different sectors in various parts of the world during the year.
The stolen data
The breached system contained the information used by customers to access some airport services. The data that fell into the hands of hackers included email addresses, telephone numbers, residential addresses and vehicle license plates.
However, the company clarified that the affected platform did not contain banking data. Mag also reassured passengers: the attack, which occurred last weekend and was only made public yesterday, would not have had consequences on flights or compromised the internal security of the three airports.
The amount of the ransom requested is not yet known. The airport group’s decision not to pay now opens the risk that the stolen information could be spread online or sold in criminal networks.
The long series of attacks in the United Kingdom
The raid on airports is part of a long series of cyber attacks that have hit the United Kingdom in recent years. Large private companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer, Harrods and Co-op, but also public institutions, including the British Library, have ended up in the crosshairs.
In many cases, perpetrators have stolen large amounts of data and then demanded payment from affected organizations, otherwise threatening to publish or resell the information. A strategy now also used against one of the main British airport groups.