The troubled airline said earlier today that hackers had accessed the email and travel details of 9million customers and stolen 2,200 credit card details.

A spokesman has confirmed that easyJet became aware of the attack in January, and was only able to notify customers whose credit card details were stolen in April.

Their investigation found that the cyber criminals had access to easyJet customer data from October 17 last year to this March 4.  

Two people with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the cyber attack appeared to be part of a series of attacks by suspected Chinese hackers aimed at the bulk theft of travel records and other data.

EasyJet notified the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the data regulator, and the National Cyber Security Centre in late January, a spokesman added. 

In a statement to the stock market, easyJet said: ‘There is no evidence that any personal information of any nature has been misused.

‘On the recommendation of the ICO, we are communicating with the approximately 9 million customers whose travel details were accessed to advise them of protective steps to minimise any risk of potential phishing.

‘EasyJet is in the process of contacting the relevant customers directly and affected customers will be notified no later than the 26th of May.’ 

‘We take issues of security extremely seriously and continue to invest to further enhance our security environment,’ a spokesperson added. 

The ICO has recommended easyJet contact everyone affected because of an increased risk of phishing fraud during the coronavirus crisis. 

An ICO spokesman said: ‘We have a live investigation into the cyber attack involving easyJet. People have the right to expect that organisations will handle their personal information securely and responsibly. 

‘When that doesn’t happen, we will investigate and take robust action where necessary. Anyone affected by data breaches needs to be particularly vigilant to possible phishing attacks, and scam messages.’   

Source:- Daily Mail