Three UK airports hit by cyber-attack with data of 8.7m customers accessed
Friday, 28 August 2026
Warm-up
- What airport services do you book online before you fly?
- How do you spot a suspicious email or text message?
- What steps do you take after a company leaks your data?
Vocabulary
- cyber-attack
- a harmful attempt to break into or damage a computer system or network
- data breach
- an incident where unauthorised people access private information
- compromise
- to make something less safe or private by exposing it to risk
- adviser
- a specialist who gives expert guidance to an organisation
- infrastructure
- the basic systems a country relies on, like power, transport and airports
- spokesperson
- a person who speaks officially for a company or group
- postcode
- a set of letters and numbers that identifies an address area
- caution
- care taken to avoid danger, problems or mistakes
Reading
Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports were hit by a cyber-attack that accessed data on about 8.7 million customers. Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which operates the three hubs, said the incident involved car park, lounge and fast-track bookings, plus in-airport wifi sign-ups. Hackers obtained email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes, but no bank or payment details. MAG stressed that passenger safety and aviation security were not compromised, and airport operations continued as normal.
A MAG spokesperson said the company had contained the risk and was working with specialist advisers and relevant authorities. London Stansted emailed customers urging caution about unexpected emails, calls or texts, and said it would never ask for payment or banking information. The attack, a data breach during the peak summer travel period, comes amid pressure on operators of national infrastructure to improve cyber-defences.
Comprehension
- Which three UK airports were affected by the attack?
- Roughly how many customers had their data accessed?
- Which bookings and sign-ups were involved in the incident?
- What did MAG say about safety and airport operations?
- What advice did London Stansted give customers?
Grammar focus
Relative clauses (non-defining)
Use commas and **which** for extra information about a noun. The clause can be removed without changing the main sentence. (Example 2 constructed.)
- MAG, **which operates the three hubs**, said the incident involved bookings.
- The database, **which contained customer emails**, was checked by advisers.
Grammar exercise
Circle the correct option in each sentence.
- A bulletin, (which / that) warned passengers, arrived this morning.
- Files (which / that) were accessed held contact details.
- The wifi system, (which / that) users signed up to, was affected.
- Data (which / that) hackers obtained included postcodes.
- The breach, (which / that) affected millions, worried customers.
Discussion
- How worried should travellers be about sharing data for airport services?
- What would you do first after hearing about a data breach?
- Should airport operators face penalties after such incidents? Why?
- Is fast-track convenience worth the data risk for you?
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