Hack to reality
Compared with the Optus and Medibank hacks, the response to the Qantas breach looks subdued. CEO Vanessa Hudson is surely relieved it wasn’t worse.
If you didn’t already receive one earlier in the week, there’s a good chance you got an email today from Qantas informing you that cybercriminals have accessed some combination of your phone number, home address and frequent flyer points.
CEO Vanessa Hudson is lucky that the national airline has not had to inform customers that more sensitive information — such as passport or credit card details — was stolen in the recent 30 June data breach.
There is another thing Hudson can be grateful for: Optus and Medibank came first.
It is no doubt a stressful time at Qantas HQ. Hudson cut short a holiday in Greece to return to Mascot, which surely made for a very long 22-hour journey. The company has faced negative press coverage both domestically and internationally — including in outlets like Reuters and Bloomberg — as a breach affecting 6 million people inevitably would.
