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Qantas Australia says it has made cyber criminal contacts a week after a data breach.

Qantas' spokesperson said on Tuesday that a cyber criminal had contacted the airline following a data leak last week which exposed personal details of six million passengers.

Hacker targeted call centre, gained access to third-party platform of customer service, which contained names, emails, phone numbers and birth dates, as well as frequent flyer numbers.

The spokesperson stated that "this is a criminal case and we will not be commenting further on the details of the contact" as it was a criminal matter. She added that there were no signs stolen data was released, but the company continues to monitor with cyber security experts.

The breach is Australia's highest-profile cyberattack since 2022 when telecommunications giant Optus was attacked, and the health insurer Medibank. These incidents led to mandatory cyber resilience legislation.

This latest incident has brought unwanted scrutiny on the flag carrier of the country as it seeks public trust following its COVID-19 actions that saw it fall in airline and brand reputation ratings. Reporting by Roushni Nai in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Jasmeen Islam Shaikh, editing by Shilpi Mahumdar and Shakesh Kuber

(source: Reuters)