British Airways could be hit with a record £183.4 million ($230 million) fine in wake of a recent data breach that comprised the personal information, including log-ins, card numbers and travel booking details of roughly 500,000 customers.
According to CNN Business, the fine amount is approximately 1.5 percent of the airline‘s annual revenue.
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The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office cited weak security for allowing user traffic to be diverted from British Airways‘ website to a fraudulent page beginning back in June 2018. The airline airlines/british-airways-reports-data-breach.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>confirmed the breach in September 2018.
The airline’s parent company, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA plans to fight the proposed fine.
“We are surprised and disappointed in this initial finding,” British Airways CEO Alex Cruz said in a statement. “British Airways responded quickly to a criminal act to steal customers’ data. We have found no evidence of fraud [or] fraudulent activity on accounts linked to the theft.”
If ultimately enforced, the fine would be the largest ever under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which the European Union introduced last year.
“People’s personal data is just that—personal. When an organization fails to protect it from loss, damage or theft it is more than an inconvenience,” said Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham in a statement. “That’s why the law is clear—when you are entrusted with personal data you must look after it.”
Under GDPR, violators can be fined up to 4 percent of their annual revenue.
