Data breaches impact Cathay Pacific and additional British Airways passengers

Cathay Pacific Airlines was the target of a data breach that has compromised the personal information of over nine million passengers. The breach was first discovered in March but is just now being made public. Airline officials said “Upon discovery, the company took immediate action to investigate and contain the event. The company has no evidence that any personal information has been misused.”  However, Cathay Pacific acknowledged that the following pieces of personal data were accessed: passenger name, nationality, date of birth, phone number, email, address, passport number, identity card number, frequent flyer program membership number, customer service remarks and historical travel information. In addition, 403 expired credit card numbers were accessed along with a handful of credit card numbers with no CVV information. Cathay Pacific has apologized to customers and urges them to monitor their financial accounts for possible fraud. Anyone who believes they may be affected should contact Cathay Pacific via a dedicated website at www.infosecurity.cathaypacific.com.

Meanwhile, British Airways, which made public in early September details regarding the theft of its customers’ personal information, said its ongoing investigation has revealed that more cardholders may have been impacted in addition to those notified in September. This latest discovery applies to customers who booked reward travel between April 21 and July 28, 2018. British Airways has promised to reimburse any customer who has suffered financial losses as a direct result of the data theft in addition to offering credit rating monitoring services provided by specialists in the field.

U.K. to extend ePassport gate access to travelers from the U.S. and four other countries

Starting next year, the United Kingdom plans to open up access to its ePassport expedited airport screening gates to eligible citizens of the United States along with those from Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Currently ePassport gates are only available to those from the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area along with select frequent visitors from other countries who pay for the Registered Traveler program. The automatic gates can scan data from passport holders who have a biometric symbol on the cover. The system then uses facial recognition technology to confirm the passport holder’s identity.

Marriott hotel workers still on strike in eight cities

Union officials and Marriott have yet to reach agreements that would end a three-week old strike by workers at 23 hotels in eight cities across the U.S. including Boston, Detroit, Maui, Oahu, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.  Unite Here, the union that represents the impacted hotel workers, has separate contract agreements with Marriott International in each city. Marriott has activated contingency plans at the affected hotels but also warns of reduced services.