Updated: Oct 25 - 16:30: As to the delay in the announcement of the data breach, Paul Loo, Cathay’s chief customer and commercial officer, said in a radio program on today morning that the company was trying to avoid introducing unnecessary panic among its customers and had to spend more time to find out what really happened.

Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Stephen Wong Kai-yi expressed serious concern over the data breach as the incident might involve a vast amount of personal data of local and foreign citizens.

Oct 25 - 11:30: Press Release - Cathay Pacific announced that as part of its ongoing IT security processes, it has discovered unauthorised access to some of its information system containing passenger data of up to 9.4 million people.

Upon discovery, the company took immediate action to investigate and contain the event. The company has no evidence that any personal information has been misused. The IT systems affected are totally separate from its flight operations systems, and there is no impact on flight safety.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg said, “We are very sorry for any concern this data security event may cause our passengers. We acted immediately to contain the event, commence a thorough investigation with the assistance of a leading cybersecurity firm, and to further strengthen our IT security measures.

“We are in the process of contacting affected passengers, using multiple communications channels, and providing them with information on steps they can take to protect themselves. We have no evidence that any personal data has been misused. No-one’s travel or loyalty profile was accessed in full, and no passwords were compromised.”

The following personal data was accessed: passenger name; nationality; date of birth; phone number; email; address; passport number; identity card number; frequent flyer programme membership number; customer service remarks; and historical travel information.

In addition, 403 expired credit card numbers were accessed. Twenty-seven credit card numbers with no CVV were accessed. The combination of data accessed varies for each affected passenger.

Cathay Pacific has notified the Hong Kong Police and is notifying the relevant authorities .

Hogg added: “We want to reassure our passengers that we took and continue to take measures to enhance our IT security. The safety and security of our passengers remains our top priority.”