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BA Investigating Theft of Personal and Financial Data

Old Sep 7, 2018, 8:15 am
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On Thursday 6 September 2018 at about 1830 London time (UTC+1), BA announced that there had been a data breach involving customers using the BA website and the BA mobile app.

Updates from BA are being posted to this ba.com page: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...st-information
A further update dated 25 October 2018 can be found in this post 1377. The SPG Law class action thread can be found here.

As at 1400 London time on Tuesday 11 September 2018, the body of that page read:-
Customer data theft

We are investigating, as a matter of urgency, the theft of customer data between 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018 from our website, ba.com, and our mobile app.

The stolen data included personal and financial details of customers making bookings and changes on ba.com and the airline’s app. The data did not include travel or passport details.

The theft has been reported to the authorities and our website is now working normally.

What to do if you have been affected

If you believe you may have been affected because you made a booking or paid to change to your booking with a credit or debit card on ba.com or the mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018, we recommend you contact your bank or credit card provider and follow their advice.

We understand that this incident will cause concern and inconvenience. We are contacting all affected customers to say sorry, and we will continue to update them in the coming days.

Phishing

Customers should also be aware that fraudsters may be claiming to be British Airways and attempt to gather personal information by deception (known as 'phishing').

We will not be contacting any customers asking for payment card details and any such requests should be reported to the police and relevant authorities.

See below for more information on how to validate that the email you have received from us is genuine.
That is followed by a series of FAQs. These are reproduced at the end of this wikipost.

If you are experiencing difficulties in changing your BA password or want further information about doing so, some information is in this thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...rd-ba-com.html (which also has a wikipost).

Reports from FTers suggest that credit card companies and banks are taking differing approaches to this incident:-
  • American Express - A recorded message says they are aware of the breach, there is no need to take any further action and if you suffer any financial loss you will be fully compensated; an email says: "There is no action you need to take – we will contact you immediately if there's any unusual activity with your Account. In the meantime you can continue to use your Card as normal" (see post 293, post 401, post 470 and post 491).
  • Barclaycard - They just assured me I was fully protected, and I didn't need to do anything yet (see post 253); however at 18.20 on 7/9/18 the customer service helpline automated message says that affected cards are being reissued (see post 511).
  • Barclays Bank - They have contacted people they believe to have been affected, and have blocked their cards from online use (website/app), but the cards remain valid for physical (chip & PIN) transactions in shops, ATMs etc. New cards being dispatched "within a week" (see post 918).
  • Capital One - online transactions being blocked, new cards being issued (see post 493).
  • Chase (British Airways visa) - no contact from Chase about data breach and card still working
  • HSBC Premier Mastercard - Offering customers the option to freeze the card or replace it with a new card (see post 274).
  • Lloyds - Said "wait and see", but did give the option to cancel the card and have it reissued (see post 403).
  • Lloyds Mastercard - Based on the information they have, fraudulent use of my card is unlikely, just keep an eye on online banking and report anything suspicious (see post 370).
  • Monzo - Automatically replacing all cards (see post 371).
  • Natwest- Of the opinion that as there had been no fraudulent activity on my account to just keep an eye on things, and to call immediately if any suspicious transactions appear and fraud team would refund (post 315).
  • Sainsburys Bank - seem to be replacing all cards proactively (see post 968)
  • Starling - Automatically replacing cards (see post 460).
  • Tesco Bank - Pro-actively sending a new card as per details in this post (post 484)
  • TSB - Call the Telephone Banking Team on 03459 758758 to discuss further (see post 437).
  • Vanquis - online transactions being blocked, new cards being issued (see post 493).
FAQs (as at 1400 London time on Tuesday 11 September 2018):-
Have I been affected?

How do I know if I have been affected?

Customers who made bookings or changes to their bookings on ba.com or our mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018 may have been affected.

We advise any customers who believe they may have been affected to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

We are experiencing high call volumes into our contact centres so please continue to check this page for the latest information.

Contact us

What data has been lost?

The personal and financial details of customers making bookings on ba.com and our mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018 was compromised. No passport or travel details were stolen. Only customers who made bookings between these dates are affected.

Names, billing address, email address and all bank card details were all at risk.

Did this affect just new bookings or any payment transaction made within the impacted time period?

All payment transactions made on ba.com or our mobile app from 22:58 BST August 21 2018 to 21:45 September 5 2018 inclusive were affected. Nothing before or after these dates and times was impacted. Payments made through our call centres, travel agents or online travel sites are not affected.

Are my saved payment card details safe if they were used to make a booking in that period?

If you made a payment using a saved card on ba.com or the mobile app from 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 to 21:45 September 5, 2018 inclusive, you may have been impacted.

No Executive Club accounts were compromised in the data theft. There is no impact to Avios or details stored with the British Airways Executive Club.

Has saved credit card data been stolen, even if a booking hasn’t been made in that period?

No, saved payment card data has not been compromised. However, if you made a payment using a saved card on ba.com or the mobile app from 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 to 21:45 September 5, 2018 inclusive, you may have been impacted.

How were phone numbers not affected?

Phone number information is collected in a separate part of the booking process and is not used as part of the payment transaction therefore this has not been impacted.

I used PayPal to pay for my ba.com transaction. Is this impacted?

If you booked through PayPal, your PayPal account will not have been compromised. There does remain the risk that some of your personal information such as your name and address may have been accessed. No passport details or travel details were compromised.

Is Apple Pay affected?

If you used Apple Pay via the mobile app then your data will not have been compromised.

I had a failed payment attempt during the affected time period – am I affected?

If you clicked the pay button on ba.com then the transaction would have taken place even if the outcome was unsuccessful and the data would have been compromised.

We advise any concerned customers to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

Will I be affected if I made a free change to my booking but my payment card details were saved in the reservation?

If you made a free change to your booking via ba.com and did not use your payment card as part of that transaction, then you will not have been impacted.

Are travel agent bookings affected?

Only bookings or changes to bookings made directly with ba.com or the mobile app between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018 were affected.

If a change was made to a travel agent booking on ba.com and payment made for an additional product, such as seat reservations or excess baggage, then these would be affected.

Does this affect Executive Club accounts in any way? i.e. missing Avios/ Tier Points

No accounts were compromised in the data theft. There is no impact to Avios or details stored with the British Airways Executive Club.

I received an email about the data theft, however I only cancelled a booking during this time – will I be affected?

If you cancelled and refunded your booking between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 September 5, 2018, you will not have been impacted.

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What should I do if I think I am affected?

Should I call my bank or cancel my credit cards?

We recommend that all customers who made bookings or changes to their bookings with ba.com or the mobile app, between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5, 2018, contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

I think my card was compromised when I made a booking on ba.com outside of the time period – what should I do?

The data theft relates to customer bookings made or changed between 22:58 BST August 21, 2018 and 21:45 September 5, 2018 only.

We advise any concerned customers to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their advice.

How would I know if I have been a victim of identity theft?

There are a number of signs to look out for that may indicate that you might have been a victim of identity theft:-
  • Post from your bank or utility provider doesn’t arrive.
  • You apply for state benefits, but are told you are already claiming.
  • Refused financial services, credit cards or a loan, despite having a good credit rating.
  • Receiving letters in your name from solicitors or debt collectors for debts that aren’t yours.
If you think that you might be a victim of identity theft, then you should:
  • Request a copy of your credit file to check for any suspicious credit applications.
  • Report the theft of personal information and suspicious credit applications to the police and ask for a crime reference number.
  • If fraud has been committed, contact Action Fraud.
I have had some suspicious emails or phone calls – are they legitimate?

If you are concerned about an email, we recommend that you don't click on any links, open any documents or reply to it until you have looked into it further.

Official emails relating to this theft will be sent from: [email protected]. You should hover over the sent email address to confirm this is where the email has been sent from before clicking on it.

British Airways will never proactively contact you to request your personal or confidential information. If you ever receive an email or call, claiming to be from us, requesting this information, please report it to us straight away.

We've put the details of the scams we're aware of on our ba.com website security page. There's also security essentials information to help you, along with details of how to report any new scams to us (or other emails/calls that have concerned you).

Will I be reimbursed?

We take the protection of our customers’ data seriously and are very sorry for the concern that this criminal activity has caused.

We will continue to keep our customers updated with the very latest information.

No customer will be out of pocket as a direct result of the criminal theft of data from ba.com and the airline’s mobile app. Any customer who made a booking between 22:58 BST August 21 2018 and 21:45 BST September 5 2018 will be reimbursed for any fraudulent activity on their accounts as a direct result of the data theft and we shall advise the process for this in due course.

We will be offering a 12-month credit rating monitoring service to any affected customer who is concerned about an impact to their credit rating, provided by specialists in the field and will share details of this in the near future.

Will BA pay for costs associated with getting new cards, e.g. postage costs?

No customer will be out of pocket as a direct result of the criminal theft of data from ba.com and the airline’s mobile app. We are working through the process and will update our customers as soon as we can.

How do I reset my ba.com password?

ba.com and Executive Club accounts have not been compromised and your login details are safe.

However, if you’d like to change your password, first ensure you are logged out of ba.com and click the Forgotten Pin/Password link on the top right-hand corner of the homepage. We recommend you choose a unique password that you do not use for any other online account.

We are aware of some customers experiencing intermittent issues when attempting to reset their passwords. We are working on resolving this as quickly as possible.

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How does this affect my bookings?

What shall I do if I am due to travel today?

The incident has been resolved and all systems are working normally so customers due to travel can check-in online as normal.

Will I still be able to check in?

Yes, all customers booked on our flights will be able to check in as normal.

Will this affect any future bookings?

The incident has been resolved and ba.com is working normally so future bookings will not be affected.

Will bookings made over the period of this incident remain confirmed?

Yes, all bookings made remain valid for travel.

If I cancelled the card my booking was made with what do I need to bring to the airport?

The payment card that was used to pay for the booking should be brought to the airport if you are the owner of the card and are travelling. However, if the payment card has expired since the booking was made and you have a new card, or you don't have the original card used for payment, please print out a copy of your flight itinerary from Manage my Booking.

I have now cancelled my credit card, but I had used that card to make a future flight booking, so how will I be able to access that booking?
You do not need to enter your payment card details when retrieving an existing booking via Manage My Booking on ba.com, so access to future booking is not restricted due to the cancellation of the payment card.
As of Wednesday 12th September, affected customers are being emailed with the following additional information

We deeply apologise for any worry and inconvenience this criminal activity has caused. For your reassurance, we’re offering you 12 months of free credit and identity monitoring services, provided by Experian, one of the UK’s leading Credit Reference agencies.

Your free ProtectMyID membership
To help you to monitor your personal information for certain signs of potential identity theft, we are offering you a free 12 month membership to Experian ProtectMyID. This service helps detect possible misuse of your personal data and provides you with identity monitoring support, focussed on the identification and resolution of identity theft.

Activating your free ProtectMyID membership
1. Ensure that you sign up for the service by 12 December 2018. Your code expires after this date.
2. Visit the ProtectMyID website to get started.
3. Click on ‘Join ProtectMyID’ (top right-hand side).
4. Enter your details along with the following activation code: XXXXXXXX
This code is unique to you and only available in this email – please keep this email for reference.

Once your membership is activated, you’ll have access to the following features:
1. Unlimited access to your Experian Credit Report.
2. Credit Alerting – an email or text to let you know when certain changes happen on your Experian Credit Report, such as the addition of a new credit search.
3. Access to an Identity Theft Resolution service if you do become a victim of fraud, where you’ll have a dedicated case worker who will support you in resolving fraud that has occurred.
4. If you are at higher risk of fraud, Experian can add protective Cifas registration to your credit report which can help prevent credit being taken in your name. The Cifas Protective Registration service places a flag alongside your name and personal details in the National Fraud Database. Companies and organisations who are signed up as members of the database will see you’re at risk and take extra steps to protect you.

If you have any questions regarding this service, then please contact Experian’s Customer Support Centre on 03444 818182*. They are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm and Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
Note that the email from BA gives you a personal "Activation Code". However, when you get to the signup forms for ProtectMyID, you put the code into the second page of the sign up form in the "Promotional Code" field.
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BA Investigating Theft of Personal and Financial Data

Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:08 am
  #241  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 928
Below is a tweet from Tim Shipman the Sunday Times journalist.

"Decent response from BA chief exec Alex Cruz. Clear admission of failure. Immediate willingness to compensate. Fluent and calm. A few company bosses could learn from that"

Will be interesting to see how this plays out over time. Would think that AC may receive an invite to a commons select committee.
Cw novice is online now  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:10 am
  #242  
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 18
Originally Posted by silonic
Unless you got the email last night, you should be fine. AVIOS uses a different website that BA.com
Thanks. I did receive the email so I guess that means I'm affected.
lexexpress is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:10 am
  #243  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 995
Got the two emails the first with no text which looked like a typical phishing email - well done BA.
The second email came later which had text in it and seems to say I should contact my bank.
I am somewhat puzzled as I did not make a financial transaction during the period in question. I did log into BA.com via my normal BAEC account and via Onbusiness. The only transaction I tried to attempt was to cancel an Onbusiness booking but you cannot do this online so I had to phone in. At no time did I enter my card details although BA.com does store them online.
My reading of this is that the breach covers more than just the booking process where you pay for the flights and as such my guess is that more than 380,000 people may be affected.

Alex Cruz did appear on the Today programme just now and was not very impressive when interviewed. Alex did admit that email address, actual address had been compromised.
scillyisles is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:11 am
  #244  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 274
I made a booking within the affected period but haven't received any email yet.
Luckily, banks outside UK should be aware of the incident by now (mine is HSBC HK) and was able to reissue new credit card right away.
marcolau317 is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:13 am
  #245  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,908
Originally Posted by phoneticduck
According to comments from the BA twitter account, it's only the card used to make a booking during the window, saved cards are not affected.
If that is true then it's a really key piece of information and a shame that it wasn't highlighted sooner. It probably points to a compromise near the front end of BA web systems, rather than the backend or payment processing systems.
plunet is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:13 am
  #246  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,872
Originally Posted by phoneticduck
According to comments from the BA twitter account, it's only the card used to make a booking during the window, saved cards are not affected.

Haven't seen that specifically stated in any ot the comms on the ba website or the email they sent me to tell me my data was gone.
I'll tread reasonably carefully here. Saved cards shouldn't be affected due to the way they should be tokenised and / or encrypted at rest. If you save a credit card number, nobody at BA or the payment acquirer would actually be able to see your number. Once it's saved, it should no longer exist in the form in which it was actually keyed into the system. But, as we know, this data theft shouldn't have happened either, if the appropriate and legal safeguards - PCI around card safety and GDPR around personal data - had been correctly implemented. Also there is no option to save your CVV on ba.com, and if this was also stolen, that's why I agree that it seems to be only cards used for an actual transaction, not cards just stored.
ThatT1Feeling is online now  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:14 am
  #247  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,833
Originally Posted by ThatT1Feeling
I would suspect that there are lawyers within BA’s IT partners who are busily looking at their liability clauses this morning. I suspect that there are multiple organisations involved - those who built the checkout on the website and app, those who were responsible for PCI DSS design and implementation, the payment provider, the fraud identification applications etc. I’d doubt that many actual BA people have been near any of this stuff.
Whether it’s BA staff or outsourced/third party provider is effectively irrelevant (other than giving BA a route to recover some costs).
Kgmm77 is online now  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:15 am
  #248  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 592
I got the email, I paid balance of my BA Holiday booking with a stored card....
endoman is online now  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:16 am
  #249  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 278
ALex Cruz currently on BBC breakfast being asked whether he should resign!
orbitmic, Silver Fox and T8191 like this.
AlisonB84 is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:18 am
  #250  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Executive Club, Flying Blue
Posts: 215
Unfortunately, here I am on hold replacing the two cards that I have, my Nationwide one, which I can't get through at all right now, been on hold forever and a day to try and replace that. Just a note to anyone who is a Starling bank account customer, I would recommend turning off online payments for your card via the app until such time you have a chance to replace it, that's what I'm doing, as I travel this week.

BA has lost my last shred of respect that I had for it.
Silver Fox likes this.
cattp is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:19 am
  #251  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
Originally Posted by scillyisles
Alex Cruz did appear on the Today programme just now and was not very impressive when interviewed. Alex did admit that email address, actual address had been compromised.
Thinking about it, i received a change password request on my email account two days ago from a location near Cheltenham. I thought nothing of it and having two factor authentication blocked it.

It could well be coincidence but never happened before.
1010101 is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:21 am
  #252  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Surrey, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold / Oneworld Emerald
Posts: 69
I'm stuck plating the waiting game at the minute. I made a booking 3 hours before the end of the affected window, but used saved card data to make the purchase. I've not had the e-mail yet. My friend who made two transactions in the period, one using a saved card, the other manually inputting details has had the e-mail saying he may have been affected.

When I spoke to Barclaycard - they just assured me I was fully protected, and I didn't need to do anything yet.
weebo15 is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:24 am
  #253  
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: Meh
Posts: 2,590
Booked my first BA flights in nearly 2 years.
After a crap experience in the GF, this is the cherry on the top.
Silver Fox likes this.
stevie is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:25 am
  #254  
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 28
Originally Posted by Misco60
Alex Cruz has just stated on Radio 4 that the data stolen includes names, addresses, credit card numbers and three-digit CVC codes. But also that it is absolutely not the fault of British Airways, who are dedicated to data security.
Thank goodness. I did receive the email, but now I don’t need to worry about the four digit CVC code on my AmEx (!)
stewaran, Calchas and plunet like this.
jacobchr is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:27 am
  #255  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold (woohoo)
Posts: 189
So the most likely explanation is that someone got key logging software into BA's systems and harvested every number typed through that system (including CVV codes) for 2 weeks until someone noticed? Hence data being "stolen" rather than "breached"?
Keep it Riel is offline  

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