Copyright independent
It is understood that one of the files on a compromised IT server contained passenger boarding information from Friday August 1 to Sunday August 31. It is not clear exactly how many passengers may be affected, however in August, approximately 3.8 million passengers used Dublin Airport alone. It was a record-breaking month with 3,784,759 passengers at the airport. Every single day in August saw Dublin Airport handle more than 110,000 passengers, with numbers topping 120,000 passengers on 21 of those days. Also in August, over 376,000 passengers used Cork Airport, making it the busiest August ever for the airport, up 10pc on last year. The daa has now made an initial report to the Data Protection Commission (DPC). Regulators such as a the Irish Aviation Authority and the National Cyber Centre have also been updated, while airlines have also been briefed on potential impacts for passengers. It is understood that intelligence indicated on Friday October 17 that the file may have been exposed online by a cyber-criminal group, with a sample of the data released in recent days. A spokesperson for the daa said: “The daa is aware of a data security incident involving a third-party supplier, Collins Aerospace. “The matter is under active investigation, and we are working closely with our regulators and affected airline partners. "At this time, there is no evidence of any direct impact on daa systems. “Passengers who travelled in August do not need to take any immediate action but should remain alert to any unusual activity related to their bookings,” they added. Several airlines have already began communicating with passengers who used the airports during the busy summer month. Separately in an incident in September, Dublin Airport shut down following a after suspicion arose about the contents of a bag which was on a plane. The incident caused an "extreme security alert" according to security sources and saw the airport evacuated for hours on Saturday, September 20. Videos and photos from the day showed droves of passengers being led out of the building. On the same day, a statement from Dublin Airport said there was also a separate Europe-wide issue which caused some airlines to use manual check-in and boarding, which did affect Dublin and Cork airports.
