Qantas says it is continuing to support customers as a hacking group threatens to release personal data from around 40 companies to the dark web.<\/p>\n
A cybercrime collective, Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, had reportedly threatened to release stolen data from around 40 global firms linked to the cloud software giant Salesforce \u2014 including Disney, Google, IKEA, Toyota, and airlines Qantas, Air France and KLM \u2014 unless a ransom was paid.<\/p>\n
The hackers had given Salesforce a deadline of 3pm AEDT on Saturday to pay the ransom, or it would release the data.<\/p>\n
Australian online security expert Troy Hunt from Have I Been Pwned said he had confirmation that the Qantas customer data had since been leaked on the dark web.<\/p>\n
While Mr Hunt was speaking to the ABC, he received a text message from a friend overseas saying they thought they had found his personal data in the leak.<\/p>\n
“I just gave them the last two digits of my frequent flyer number. So we’ll see if they can confirm the whole thing, but I’m quite sure it is what it is,” he said.<\/p>\n
Within seconds, he had confirmation.<\/p>\n
“They’ve just confirmed the email address that was on file, which is unique to Qantas,” Mr Hunt said.<\/p>\n
It appeared the hackers did not release the data of all the companies involved.<\/p>\n
“They’ve only released six at this point in time,” Mr Hunt said.<\/p>\n
“The guys responsible for this have been pretty erratic in their communication; there were threats that everything was going to be leaked.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The stolen data included some customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and frequent flyer numbers. (ABC News: Stephanie Chalmers)<\/p>\n
Qantas said in a statement on its website that there was no impact to frequent flyer accounts and that financial details had not been compromised.<\/p>\n
“Passwords, PINs, and login details were not accessed or compromised,” the statement said.<\/p>\n
“Qantas confirms that no identity documents, credit card numbers, or personal financial details were accessed or compromised as a result of the incident.”<\/p>\n
Mr Hunt told the ABC that the data that was published earlier had been removed from the service it was placed on for download.<\/p>\n
“But it’s already in thousands of hands and will likely just be re-uploaded to a new service,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The genie is out of the bottle.<\/p>\n
“If anything, the situation is worse now \u2014 the hackers just launched a new clear website that anyone can easily access.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The data will likely reappear there soon.”<\/p>\n