London, Jul 8 (Xinhua/UNI) British Airways is facing a record fine of over 183 million pounds (about 229.2 million U.S. dollars) over last year's massive hack into its security system, its parent group IAG said on Monday.
The penalty, equivalent to 1.5 per cent of the airline's turnover in 2017, is the biggest ever handed out by the UK Information Commissioner's Office, according to the BBC.
Until now, the biggest fine was 500,000 pounds (626,200 dollars) imposed on Facebook for its role in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
British Airways described the breach, first disclosed on Sept. 6, 2018, as "a very sophisticated, malicious, criminal attack on our website." Users of the website were diverted to a fraudulent site, through which details of around 500,000 customers such as names, postal addresses, email addresses and credit card information were harvested.
The airline's CEO Alex Cruz said it has found "no evidence of fraud or fraudulent activity on accounts linked to the theft."
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said it would consider appealing as it seeks "to take all appropriate steps to defend the airline's position vigorously."
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