The UK’s data privacy watchdog on Friday slashed a fine imposed on British Airways over a cyber attack after taking into account coronavirus fallout on the embattled airline’s finances.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office said BA would be fined a “record” £20 million ($25 million, 22 million euros), considerably less that the proposed amount totalling £183 million.
“As part of the regulatory process the ICO considered both representations from BA and the economic impact of Covid-19 on their business before setting a final penalty,” the watchdog said in a statement.
The proposed amount was announced in July last year after computer hackers in 2018 stole bank details from hundreds of thousands of British Airways passengers.
The ICO on Friday repeated its finding that BA had infringed European Union data protection rules, or GDPR.
“Because the BA breach happened in June 2018, before the UK left the EU, the ICO investigated on behalf of all EU authorities as lead supervisory authority under the GDPR,” Friday’s statement said.
British Airways, which is slashing thousands of jobs as the coronavirus pandemic decimates demand for air travel, surprised markets on Monday by announcing the sudden departure of chief executive Alex Cruz.
Related: Former Contractor Sentenced to Prison for Hacking British Airline Jet2
Related: British Airways Faces $230 Million Fine for 2018 Breach
Related: British Airways Criticized for Exposing Passenger Flight Details
Related: British Airways, Another Victim of Ongoing Magecart Attacks

More from AFP
- Cyberattacks Target Websites of German Airports, Admin
- Meta Slapped With 5.5 Million Euro Fine for EU Data Breach
- International Arrests Over ‘Criminal’ Crypto Exchange
- France Regulator Raps Apple Over App Store Ads
- More Political Storms for TikTok After US Government Ban
- Meta Hit With 390 Million Euro Fine Over EU Data Breaches
- Facebook Agrees to Pay $725 Million to Settle Privacy Suit
- China’s ByteDance Admits Using TikTok Data to Track Journalists
Latest News
- Sentra Raises $30 Million for DSPM Technology
- Cyber Insights 2023: Cyberinsurance
- Cyber Insights 2023: Attack Surface Management
- Cyber Insights 2023: Artificial Intelligence
- Microsoft’s Verified Publisher Status Abused in Email Theft Campaign
- Guardz Emerges From Stealth Mode With $10 Million in Funding
- How the Atomized Network Changed Enterprise Protection
- Critical QNAP Vulnerability Leads to Code Injection
