Australian airline Qantas has disclosed a cyberattack that led to a significant data breach affecting up to 6 million customers.
The breach was detected on Monday after threat actors accessed a third-party customer servicing platform used by a Qantas call center. While the airline says its internal systems remain secure, a large amount of customer information—including names, emails, phone numbers, birthdates, and frequent flyer numbers—may have been stolen.
In its official statement, Qantas said the suspicious activity was quickly contained, and no credit card details, passwords, PINs, or login information were compromised. The airline has notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and the Australian Federal Police about the incident.
Though the attackers have not been publicly identified, cybersecurity experts warn the breach bears similarities to recent activity from the Scattered Spider hacking group. This group, also known as 0ktapus or UNC3944, has been linked to high-profile attacks using social engineering tactics such as phishing, SIM swapping, and impersonating employees to steal credentials. They recently targeted other airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines and WestJet.
As aviation becomes a new focus for threat actors like Scattered Spider, security experts recommend organizations secure help desks, password reset tools, and third-party identity platforms—key attack vectors used in recent breaches.
If this article helped you, please consider supporting our work. Every small contribution keeps Abijita.com independent and running.
