Air France-KLM Hit by Data Security Incident After Third-Party System Hacked

Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM said it suffered a significant data security incident after cyber criminals breached into a third party platform used by the company to manage customer data.

 

In a notification sent to its affected customers, Air France-KLM said that it recently suffered a data security incident. The breach took place when an unauthorised threat actor gained access to a vendor platform used by the company to manage customer data.

 

The airline immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It also took “necessary steps to address the situation, and have reinforced protective measures to prevent this from happening again.”

 

Although Air France-KLM did not disclose which vendor platform was breached or when the incident occurred, it said that the breach affected the sensitive data of its customers. The compromised data included names, contact details, Flying Blue numbers and tier level details, subject line of service request emails and more.

 

Air France-KLM has, however, confirmed that the threat actors did not access credit card details, passport numbers, Flying Blue Miles balances, passwords and booking information.

 

The incident has been reported to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, as required by data protection laws.

 

In 2023, Air France-KLM suffered another significant data security incident that affected the sensitive personal information of its Flying Blue customers. KLM added the cyber attack “was blocked in time and no miles were charged” but the airline has encouraged its customers to change their Flying Blue password via the Flying Blue website.

 

Last week, Russian airline Aeroflot experienced a significant cyber attack, which severely disrupted its operations and forced the cancellation of dozens of round-trip flights, including key domestic routes such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sochi.

 

Two pro-Ukraine hacking groups, Silent Crow and the Belarusian Cyber-Partisans, claimed responsibility for the attack. They stated that the cyber operation was a prolonged, year-long campaign that deeply penetrated Aeroflot’s IT infrastructure.