Frequent British Airways Executive Fliers: You’ve Been Hacked

The airline froze some frequent flier accounts to resolve the issue, making it difficult, if not impossible, for potential victims to cash in or spend their points.

Apparently a third party used information scraped up from elsewhere on the Internet to try to gain access to some frequent-flier executive club accounts, British Airways officials said.

The Inquirer reports that British Airways claims “the interruption was a simple one and not a targeted threat or attack” and the airline suspects that “this person or persons was just trying out passwords plundered from another outfit.”

Some security researchers said it soundslike the attackers managed to obtain a database of usernames and passwords and then threw it at the executive club website to see if they would also unlock accounts there.

According to ZDNet, on Twitter, some fliers have been voicing their concerns. In one exchange, a passenger complained the person’s Avios -- the frequent flier points currency spent on flight upgrades and services -- had been stolen. According to forum posts, many account points have been set to zero or customers locked out entirely.

British Airways says it is not aware of a breach of passenger travel histories or financial data.