SYDNEY, July 8, (Xinhua): Qantas said it was contacted by a hacker claiming responsibility for a major data breach that affected up to six million of its customers. The Australian flag carrier said on Monday night that a "potential" cyber criminal had made contact following the significant data breach. Qantas said that it was working to validate the legitimacy of the contact and that it had engaged the Australian Federal Police.

The airline did not clarify if a ransom was being sought. "There is no evidence that any personal data stolen from Qantas has been released but, with the support of specialist cybersecurity experts, we continue to actively monitor," a spokesperson said. The airline last Wednesday reported that a third-party system used by an offshore call center had been breached by a cyber attack on June 30.

It said that six million customers had service records on the compromised platform and personal details including names, birth dates and contact details could have been stolen. Credit card details, passwords, passport information were not stored on the affected system. Vanessa Hudson, chief executive of the Qantas Group, on Friday issued an apology to customers and said that an investigation into the incident led by cybersecurity teams and external specialists was progressing well.