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Qantas Confirms Customer Data Released by Hackers Months After Cyber Breach

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Australia’s national airline, Qantas Airways, has confirmed that customer data stolen during a July cyberattack has now been released online by cybercriminals. The airline said it was one of several companies targeted globally in the breach, which compromised the personal information of millions of passengers.

In the July incident, Qantas revealed that over one million customers had sensitive data — including phone numbers, dates of birth, and home addresses — accessed by hackers. An additional four million customers had their names and email addresses stolen, marking one of the largest data breaches in Australia’s recent history.

Qantas said the data was stolen through a third-party platform and has since been published by the hacker group known as Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters after the company missed a ransom deadline. “With the help of specialist cybersecurity experts, we are investigating what data was part of the release,” Qantas said in a statement.

The airline also confirmed that an injunction remains in place to prevent the use or further distribution of the stolen information. The July attack is among the most serious since cyber incidents targeting telecom firm Optus and health insurer Medibank in 2022, which led to tighter cybersecurity laws in Australia.

Vertu Motors warns of $7.4 million profit hit after JLR cyberattack

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Vertu Motors said it expects up to a 5.5 million-pound ($7.4 million) impact on annual profit following the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) cyberattack that disrupted operations for nearly six weeks. The British car dealer’s shares fell 3.5% in early trading after the announcement.

JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, began restarting its systems this week after the incident crippled parts of its network. Vertu, which operates 10 JLR dealerships across the UK, said about 2 million pounds of the loss occurred in September, and the total effect will depend on how quickly JLR fully restores operations.

“We’re working with our insurers to assess a possible claim under our policy, which covers third-party system outages,” said CEO Robert Forrester.

Vertu noted that, excluding the cyberattack’s impact, it still expects annual pretax profit to align with market forecasts of around 27.2 million pounds. For the six months ending August 31, adjusted profit before tax stood at 20 million pounds, a nearly 10% decline from the previous year.

The incident highlights the growing financial risks of cybersecurity failures in the automotive industry, where interconnected supply chains leave dealerships and manufacturers increasingly exposed.

Britain’s Co-op Warns of $161 Million Profit Hit From Cyberattack

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The Co-op Group, one of the UK’s most recognizable retailers, said on Thursday that a “sophisticated” cyberattack in April will reduce its annual profit by about £120 million ($161 million).

The 181-year-old, member-owned cooperative—which operates supermarkets, funeral services, legal, and insurance businesses—said it moved quickly to shut down several systems to contain the breach. That decision, however, caused major operational disruption, including shortages in food availability at stores.

The financial toll was clear in its latest results: for the first half of the year to July 5, revenue dropped by £206 million, while profit fell by £80 million. The company reported an underlying pre-tax loss of £75 million, compared with a £3 million profit a year earlier.

Finance chief Rachel Izzard said the full-year impact will total £120 million, with only limited insurance recovery. “We had the front-end elements of cyber insurance in place … but we don’t believe we will be claiming on insurance for back-end losses,” she explained.

Roughly £40 million of the second-half hit reflects new investments to strengthen cyber defenses. The Co-op’s Chief Digital and Information Officer, Rob Elsey, said attackers gained access through social engineering, impersonating a colleague to compromise their account—similar to a recent attack on Marks & Spencer.

The group’s food retail business, which generates the bulk of its revenue, slipped 1.6% to £3.6 billion, as it lost market share to rivals. Overall revenue was down 2.1% to £5.5 billion.

The company expects the rest of the year to bring continued pressure from high costs, global volatility, and intense competition, but still plans to open 30 new stores.