Privacy watchdog criticises Cathay Pacific over 2018 data breach

FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A330-300 passenger plane of Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific takes off at Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan, August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Airline Cathay Pacific has been found to have not followed data protection principles in relation to the security of passengers' personal data, Hong Kong's privacy watchdog said in a report published on June 6.

Last October Cathay said data on about 9.4 million of its passengers had been accessed without authorisation, adding that it had discovered suspicious activity on its network in March 2018 and that investigations in early May last year had confirmed that certain personal data had been accessed.