Cyberattack: customer data stolen from Air France and KLM

Anyone who has recently dealt with the customer service department of the airlines KLM or Air France could receive unpleasant emails in the future. Either those in which the airlines warn that their data has been stolen by cybercriminals. Or phishing emails from the latter, which are also referred to in the airlines' warnings.

Background: Personal customer data was stolen from a third-party provider working in customer support for the two airlines and their subsidiaries. KLM does not provide any further details in its press release. However, Air France is also explicitly mentioned. KLM and Air France both belong to the same holding company, Air France-KLM, which may explain the connection.

KLM assures: No sensitive data affected

The internal systems of Air France and KLM are therefore not affected. Nor has any sensitive data, such as passwords, travel data, miles from the frequent flyer program Fying Blue, passport or credit card data been stolen, KLM assures. Meanwhile, the tech portal Bleeping Computer reports, citing the two airlines, that names, email addresses, telephone numbers, information on the rewards program and recent transactions were stolen.

KLM has informed the Dutch data protection authority and Air France the French one. The company's own IT security team immediately took measures to prevent unauthorized access to the data and to prevent it from being accessed in the future. Affected customers are now to be informed.

(nen)