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Cyberattack on EasyJet will put consumer confidence to the ultimate test, warns PCI Pal®

by Stacey Richards on May 20, 2020

With news emerging that EasyJet has been the subject of a sophisticated cyber-security attack affecting around nine million passengers – including 2,200 where credit card data was potentially accessed – PCI Pal® is urging firms to step-up protection with de-scoping payment security technologies to halt hackers in their attempts at accessing highly-prized payment card data.

Research* conducted by PCI Pal in late 2018 found that 41% of UK consumers will never return to a brand or business in the immediate aftermath of a security breach or hack. A further 44% said they would stop spending ‘for several months’ post-breach, representing significant potential losses of future revenue.

“Businesses and individuals are facing enough hardship at the moment with the fall-out from the pandemic, so this news will add a further blow not only to EasyJet, but to those customers potentially caught-up in this security breach,” said Geoff Forsyth, Chief Information Security Officer of PCI Pal.

“Business can avoid storing customer card data on their internal systems by using de-scoping technologies, particularly for payments handled in contact centres. Customers’ payment information never enters the enterprise, therefore removing the associated risks; the data cannot be compromised if it’s not stored in the first place. Sadly, the fall-out from attacks like this are significant, not only from the financial penalties that could be imposed, but also from consumers’ overall confidence in the brand, both now and in the long term.”

PCI Pal secures cardholder-not-present payments for some of the largest companies in a range of markets, including retail, logistics, financial services, public sector and utilities.