British Airways is facing £183m fine for Cyber Security Breach.
The airline, owned by IAG, says it is “surprised and disappointed” by the penalty from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), however under GDPR legislation the fine for the 2017 breach could have been as much as £488 million.
In the words of the BBC’s chief technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones “today’s news will send a shiver down the spine of anyone responsible for cybersecurity at a major corporation.”
The breach in part, involved user traffic to the British Airways website being diverted to a fraudulent site, and personal details of around half a million customers being harvested by the attackers, which is believed to have begun in June 2018.
The customers’ personal data and credit card information is thought to be have been stolen by a cyber-criminal operation known as Magecart. The hacking group is known for breaching online stores and hiding JavaScript code that steals credit card information entered into store checkout pages.
The truth is whatever size your business and whatever information you have stored online or are taking from your clients or potential clients, cyber security now needs to be an integral part of your business planning.
Assuming you are covered or hoping it will only affect the big boys is a very risky strategy.
Back in 2016 for example, our Founder Thomas Wiser helped a single hairdressing salon & beauticians around Marlow whose website had been hacked by ISIS!
The owner woke up one Monday morning to find her website was no longer showing hair and beauty treatments and collecting appointments and instead was hosting videos of beheading and showing a large ISIS flag.
Fixing these kinds of situations can be much more expensive and time consuming than taking some simple steps to prevent them in the first place. So, the moral of the story is whether your business is a Goliath or just a Mino taking the right cyber security steps is crucial.
If you would like assistance with your Cyber Security planning, please contact Wiser Websites on 01582 259539 or email info@wiserwebsites.com for more details.
