LONDON: Three major airports in the United Kingdom have been targeted in a cyberattack that compromised data belonging to about 8.7 million passengers, with hackers demanding a ransom, according to British media reports.
Manchester, East Midlands and London Stansted airports, all owned by Manchester Airports Group, were targeted toward the end of last week, according to the company. The compromised information included customers’ contact details, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes.
Manchester Airports Group confirmed to the BBC that the attackers demanded a ransom in exchange for the data but said the company refused to pay. The amount demanded was not disclosed.
The company said passenger safety and aviation security were not compromised at any point. It also said the affected system did not contain customers’ bank account or payment information.
According to the report, data belonging to about 8.7 million customers was affected. Manchester Airports Group said most of the compromised information consisted of email addresses provided by passengers when registering to use free Wi-Fi at the airport terminals.
Earlier, more than 100 organizations, including OpenAI and its rival Anthropic, have called for coordinated global action to strengthen cyber defenses against emerging threats powered by artificial intelligence.
In an open letter, the organizations warned that there is limited time to strengthen cyber defenses as AI models become more capable. They said AI-powered cyberattacks could become significantly broader and more sophisticated in the coming months.
Concerns over the cybersecurity capabilities of advanced AI models developed by leading companies have increased in recent months.
In mid-July, two OpenAI models reportedly managed to access the internet beyond their restricted testing environment. They searched for and attacked Hugging Face, a platform widely used by AI developers to store and share code.
Anthropic has also disclosed an incident involving its models during a test designed to prevent access to real-world systems. The models reportedly gained unauthorized access to the systems of three unidentified organizations.
The open letter calls for a collective response, including recognition that existing cybersecurity measures may not be sufficient to address emerging AI-related threats. It also emphasizes the need to develop AI-powered tools to strengthen cyber defenses.
The organizations urged governments to coordinate cyber defense efforts at local, national and international levels, including through intelligence sharing and funding for cybersecurity initiatives.
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The letter also called on developers of the most powerful generative AI models to improve testing, provide responsible access to their systems, increase funding and offer training and practical support. It did not propose a specific funding amount or financial commitment.
