Air Europa suffers a cyber attack that exposes customer bank data and advises canceling cards

MADRID, 10 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The airline Air Europa has suffered a cybersecurity problem that would have affected the payment environment with which purchases are managed through the web, as confirmed by the company's systems team.

The airline has assured that, at this time, all its systems function "completely normally" and has guaranteed the safety of operations, although it has made some recommendations to affected customers to minimize any possible incident, including contacting them immediately. with their bank to cancel the card they used to pay in order to avoid "possible fraudulent use of their information."

This cyber attack on the airline, which represents a "fraudulent" alteration of the flow in the payment process, would have allowed the extraction of data from customers' credit cards.

According to the company, "there is no evidence that the leak was used to commit any fraud."

The airline assures that "the detection and rapid intervention of the team" for the application of the protocol established in its response plan has made it possible to block the security breach and prevent the leak of new data.

The company assures that it continues to analyze what happened, the origin of the attack and the use of the stolen information, although so far it has no evidence that any fraud has been committed.

Air Europa explains that the data extracted has been "exclusively those associated with the cards themselves and not with the customers." "In no case have cybercriminals accessed other Air Europa databases or extracted other types of personal information from customers," the airline explains.

Affected customers have received an email with the recommendations to follow to minimize any possible incident. According to the email that users have received, the stolen data is the number of several cards, their expiration dates and the CVV.

"Given the risk of card spoofing and fraud that this incident could pose, and in order to protect your interests, we recommend that you take the following steps," the email explains.

In this email, Air Europa recommends that its customers identify the card used to make the payment on the airline's website and immediately contact their bank to cancel the card they used to pay in order to avoid "the possible fraudulent use of your information."

The company urges its customers not to provide personal information, their pin, name or any other personal data via telephone, message or email, even when they identify themselves as their bank.

It also recommends not clicking on links that warn you of fraudulent operations and contacting your bank directly "by verifiable means." Finally, they recommend collecting any evidence of possible unauthorized use of your card and reporting it to the State Security Forces and Bodies.

The airline has apologized to all affected customers and has made itself available to users who need any type of advice.

"Our goal is to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future, as well as to minimize the possible inconvenience that all this may cause," concludes the email sent.