Air Canada Reports Internal Data Breach, Employee Records Compromised – News18

Air Canada has reported a breach of its internal systems, exposing the personal data of an unspecified number of its employees, media reports said on Wednesday. The country’s biggest carrier said that the breach was limited in scope and did not impact flight operations or customer-facing systems. According to Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick, the compromised data consisted of “certain records.”

Without specifying the date or time of the breach, the airline spokesperson confirmed that no customer information had been accessed. Air Canada said it has taken steps to enhance its cybersecurity measures in response to the breach and has engaged global cybersecurity experts to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“An unauthorized group briefly obtained limited access to an internal Air Canada system related to limited personal information of some employees and certain records. We can confirm that our flight operations systems and customer-facing systems were not affected. No customer information was accessed. We have contacted parties whose information has been involved as appropriate, as well as the relevant authorities,” the airliner said in the statement on its website.

“We can also confirm all our systems are fully operational. We have since implemented further enhancements to our security measures, including with the help of leading global cyber security experts, to prevent such incidents in the future as part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining the security of the data we hold,” it added.

Fitzpatrick emphasised that all of the airline’s systems are fully operational, and the breach appears to have affected only internal data. According to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is currently reviewing the breach report to determine appropriate actions.

Given that Air Canada is headquartered in Montreal, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is likely to have been informed, according to RCMP spokesperson Kim Chamberland. The breach at Air Canada is part of a broader trend of data breaches and cyberattacks affecting both public and private organisations across Canada.

The Canadian newspaper said the RCMP and the Communications Security Establishment have warned that these incidents pose significant threats to national security and economic well-being.