Air Canada admits system breach, employee records exposed

Air Canada revealed Wednesday that its internal systems were breached in a recent cyber attack, and the hackers were able to gain unauthorized access to employee records.

Canada’s flagship airline carrier announced the breach in a statement on its website late Wednesday, providing limited details about when the hack was first discovered.

“An unauthorized group briefly obtained limited access to an internal Air Canada system related to limited personal information of some employees and certain records,” the airlines stated.

All systems are fully operational, including flight operations systems and customer facing systems, Air Canada said.

Although the Montreal-based airline carrier confirmed that “no customer information was accessed,” there are more than 36,000 Air Canada employees whose personal information may have been compromised.

The company has not publicly disclosed what types of sensitive data were accessed by the attackers, but did say it has “contacted parties whose information has been involved as appropriate, as well as the relevant authorities.”

Air Canada also said it has since implemented more security controls with the help of outside cybersecurity experts to help protect against future attacks.

“We have no further public comment on this matter,” the airlines concluded the brief statement.

The airlines did not say who or what caused the breach.

Founded in 1937, Air Canada flies to over 222 destinations worldwide and is considered one of the largest airlines in Canada.