British Airways fined £20m for the 2018 data breach, was acting illegally
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The Information Commissioner’s Office has just published its final verdict on the 2018 data breach at British Airways.
The fine has been reduced to £20 million from the initial proposal of £183 million. The ICO makes it clear that this is partly due to the current financial difficulties at the airline – as well as BA’s co-operation and prompt reporting – and it is not a reassessment of the severity of the breach.
The ICO findings are damning. British Airways was found to have been acting illegally in its treatment of customer data.
“An ICO investigation found the airline was processing a significant amount of personal data without adequate security measures in place. This failure broke data protection law and, subsequently, BA was the subject of a cyber-attack during 2018, which it did not detect for more than two months.
ICO investigators found BA ought to have identified weaknesses in its security and resolved them with security measures that were available at the time.
Addressing these security issues would have prevented the 2018 cyber-attack being carried out in this way, investigators concluded.”
How big was the BA data breach?
The ICO says:
“The attacker is believed to have potentially accessed the personal data of approximately 429,612 customers and staff. This included names, addresses, payment card numbers and CVV numbers of 244,000 BA customers.
Other details thought to have been accessed include the combined card and CVV numbers of 77,000 customers and card numbers only for 108,000 customers.
Usernames and passwords of BA employee and administrator accounts as well as usernames and PINs of up to 612 BA Executive Club accounts were also potentially accessed.”
Could BA have prevented the attack?
The ICO says it could – and some of the measures were already available to it via its existing IT plaform. To quote:
“There were numerous measures BA could have used to mitigate or prevent the risk of an attacker being able to access the BA network. These include:
- limiting access to applications, data and tools to only that which are required to fulfil a user’s role
- undertaking rigorous testing, in the form of simulating a cyber-attack, on the business’ systems;
- protecting employee and third party accounts with multi-factor authentication.
None of these measures would have entailed excessive cost or technical barriers, with some available through the Microsoft Operating System used by BA.”
BA didn’t even know it had been hacked ……
“ICO investigators found that BA did not detect the attack on 22 June 2018 themselves but were alerted by a third party more than two months afterwards on 5 September. Once they became aware BA acted promptly and notified the ICO.
It is not clear whether or when BA would have identified the attack themselves. This was considered to be a severe failing because of the number of people affected and because any potential financial harm could have been more significant.”
It isn’t clear if IAG was aware of the contents of this report, including the finding that British Airways had been acting illegally, when Alex Cruz was removed from his role as CEO and Chairman of British Airways on Monday.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
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British Airways American Express
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You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
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You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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