British Airways’ Avios System Hacked

British Airways gets media concern as thousands of its frequent-flier customer accounts prove vulnerable to a recent hack that drained them of their Avios balances. The cyber-attack came into light after customers who have spent years collecting reward points for BA’s loyalty scheme – launched as Air Miles but now called Avios – described the anomalies and changes observed in their accounts recently.

Airline authorities insist that only “non-critical” information was stolen by the hacker and that the compromised data will be rendered harmless once the problem has been troubleshot. They added that only a small proportion of BA’s millions of customers are affected and that their names, addresses, flight histories, payment card details and other personal information have neither been viewed nor accessed by an intruder.

The company apologised to customers and said it expects to have the system back up and running in the next day or so, and things are not as bleak as they sound on different internet forums where the affected are venting out their frustration.

As a cautionary manoeuvre, the company has responded by freezing the targeted accounts, leaving some Executive Club members without access to their loyalty points to the investigation continues. The freezing of accounts may mean top executive club fliers may not be able to use their air miles, known in the company as Avios points until the issue is resolved.

The crime is believed to be carried out by an automated computer programme looking for blind spots in the armour of the company’s online security systems. The breach apparently was the result of a third party using information obtained elsewhere on the Internet to try to gain access to accounts.

After massive cyber assaults on Sony Pictures Entertainment, the PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, the invasion of British Airways’ Avios Accounts is the latest episode in the series of high-profile hacks against services provided by international corporations.