LONDON: Three major airports in the United Kingdom have been targeted in a cyberattack that compromised data belonging to about 8.7 million passengers, with hackers demanding a ransom, according to British media reports.
Manchester, East Midlands and London Stansted airports, all owned by Manchester Airports Group, were targeted toward the end of last week, according to the company. The compromised information included customers’ contact details, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes.
Manchester Airports Group confirmed to the BBC that the attackers demanded a ransom in exchange for the data but said the company refused to pay. The amount demanded was not disclosed.
The company said passenger safety and aviation security were not compromised at any point. It also said the affected system did not contain customers’ bank account or payment information.
According to the report, data belonging to about 8.7 million customers was affected. Manchester Airports Group said most of the compromised information consisted of email addresses provided by passengers when registering to use free Wi-Fi at the airport terminals.
