Cyberattack on UK airport giant Manchester Airports Group — 8.7 million customers' data stolen

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Manchester Airports Group confirmed a cyberattack exposing data from 8.7 million customers

Stolen info includes emails, phone numbers, vehicle registrations, and postcodes, but no payment data

Operations unaffected; “Manage My Booking” suspended, customers urged to stay vigilant

The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has announced suffering a cyberattack and losing sensitive customer data.

MAG is the UK’s largest airport operator, owning and running Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports. It also operates the digital travel services business called CAVU, and employs, in total, more than 7,000 people.

The company published a brief announcement on its website, citing a spokesperson: "Manchester Airports group has been subject to a cyber security incident by an unauthorised third party,” it reads. “A quantity of customer data has been obtained that relates to car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings and in-airport WIFI sign-ups at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports.”

Almost 9 million victims

While the official statement does not state a number, a company spokesperson told The Register that the breach likely affected around 8.7 million people. An investigation is currently ongoing, with the help of “specialist advisors”. Relevant authorities have also been notified.

The unidentified hackers stole customer email addresses , phone numbers, vehicle registrations, and postcodes. Payment details, bank account numbers, and similar data were not stolen since MAG doesn’t even store them, it was said.

“The incident has not resulted in any operational disruption. Airport operations remain unaffected and customer parking services continue to operate normally.

So far, no threat actors have assumed responsibility for the attack, and the data has not yet surfaced anywhere on the dark web. We don’t know if anyone reached out to MAG directly to demand ransom in exchange for deleting the files.

In the meantime, MAG has temporarily suspended its “Manage My Booking” online service and is telling its customers to manage their bookings via phone call. It is also urging customers to remain vigilant of incoming emails and other communications.