Cathay has enlisted UK-based Experian to help after huge data breach. EPA
Cathay has enlisted UK-based Experian to help after huge data breach. EPA

Cathay Pacific signs up firm sued for data breach over hack



Cathay Pacific Airways has enlisted a company that was itself once caught up in a hacking scandal to help deal with the fallout of a data breach that affected more than 9 million passengers.

Asia’s biggest international carrier is offering customers hit by the hack - which saw passport details to emails illegally accessed - the option to take up a service provided by Experian to monitor whether their information is being misused online.

But the Nottingham, England-based credit-tracking firm had its own experience with hacking in 2015, when a breach saw the data of 15 million subscribers of T-Mobile US held on Experian’s servers exposed. The company was sued over the incident, along with the telecommunications provider.

Cathay has lost more than $320 million in market value since news of the hack broke, as investors and customers question the company’s handling of the situation. The airline, which said it first discovered the breach in March and confirmed it in May, didn’t disclose it until October 24, in a late-night statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

When queried on Experian’s history by Bloomberg News, Cathay declined to comment. The airline said the time taken to disclose the breach was mainly due to the complexity of the data, and because the event required considerable investigation. “We are focused now on assisting affected customers.”

The airline is just the latest company to have its data hacked, with Facebook and fellow air carriers British Airways and Delta Air Lines all targeted over the past year. While firms have spent millions of dollars on sophisticated tools to shield their computer networks from attack, data security has become increasingly challenging. Hackers are on the rise, with many stealing troves of personal data that can be sold on the black market and used to carry out financial crimes.

Experian helps track stolen data, when it shows up on websites, chat rooms, blogs or for sale in corners of the internet, often known as dark websites. It is entirely up to the user to decide how much information they want to share if they choose to subscribe to the one-year, free service, Cathay said in emails to affected passengers offering the service.

The security of customer data is “top priority” and Experian aims to provide protection and assistance to those affected, said Sisca Margaretta, the company’s Singapore-based chief marketing officer for Asia Pacific. Referring to the past incidents, she said Experian’s consumer credit database was not accessed and no payment card or banking information was obtained.

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Read more:

Cathay Pacific data hack leaves 9.4 million passengers exposed and investors concerned 

Cathay Pacific has trouble spelling its own name on new aircraft

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“We actively monitor our systems and are continually updating our security protocols to protect data stored on our systems,” she said.

Laura Gabriela Politis, 36, a Cathay Pacific customer, said she isn’t sure she’d take up the offer to use the Experian service.

“That company has [had] a data breach themselves - and they’re asking for more information when your data has been compromised,” said the Hong Kong-based traveller, who often flies to Singapore, the US and Europe both for business and on vacation. “I still don’t understand why it took them months to let us know.”

The information accessed in the Cathay hack included names, nationalities, dates of birth, phone numbers, emails, physical addresses, numbers for passports, identity cards and frequent-flier programmes, as well as historical travel information. Flight safety wasn’t compromised and there was no evidence any information has been misused, Cathay said, without revealing details of the origin of the attack.

Hong Kong’s government said Friday it is “highly concerned” about the incident and has asked the airline to “fully cooperate” with the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on a compliance check.

The delay in disclosing the breach could expose Cathay to lawsuits, said Robert Braun, a partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell in Los Angeles and co-chair of the firm’s cybersecurity and privacy group.

“That’s always a problem when you have that kind of delay,” he said.

“That means the information is out in the wild and people aren’t aware they can take steps to protect it.”

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Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

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Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

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Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

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Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

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In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Fiona Sampson
Profile

SQUAD

Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Saeed Ahmed, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Muhammed Jumah, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5


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