British Airways has been issued a £20 million fine by the Information Commission (ICO).
The fine fell from £183 million, as investigators took into account the airline’s financial difficulties amid the pandemic. Despite the reductions, this is the largest fine issued by the ICO.
The fine comes after the 2018 incident in which more than 400,000 customers were compromised by hackers.
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said:
“Their failure in their actions was unacceptable and affected hundreds of thousands of people. It could have resulted in some anxiety and distress. That’s why we issued our BA with the largest fine of £20 million.
“When organizations make inadequate decisions about people’s personal data, it can have a real impact on people’s lives. The law now provides tools to encourage businesses to make better decisions about their data, including investments in modern security,” Denham added.
A British Airways spokesman said:
“We are pleased to see that ICO has significantly improved the security of its systems since the attack and that it has fully cooperated in the investigation.”
Stocks of British Airways owner IAG (LON:IAG) remained stable on Friday, trading at 96,02 (1610GMT).
