Princess Cruises Discloses Possible Data Breach

Princess Cruises disclosed a potential data breach in a notice posted on its website. The travel company said that from April 11 to July 23 of last year a third party attained “unauthorized access” to select staff email accounts that had personal information regarding its staff, customers and crew.

The company said it “identified suspicious activity” on its network in May of last year. According to the notice, “Upon identifying this potential security issue, we engaged cybersecurity forensic experts and initiated an investigation to determine what happened, what data was affected, and who was impacted.”

The kinds of personal information that could have been impacted by the breach might encompass name, social security number, address or government identification number and data related to health. The company noted, “This list is not specific to each guest. We do not have any evidence of misuse of the personal information affecting any individual.”

Princess said it was engaging in a review of its security processes and rules and bringing about changes to bolster security. The company also noted that, beyond its continuing probe, “we reported this matter to law enforcement and are offering our full cooperation.” It also noted that “we take privacy and security of personal information very seriously.”

In separate news, Princess Cruises will reportedly halt its cruise ships for two months with the coronavirus’ spread. The Grand Princess ship, for its part, had 19 guests and two workers receive a virus diagnosis.

Health authorities have encouraged the elderly not to travel on cruises, while demand for cruises has declined precipitously. Another ship operator, Viking, said it would stop all ocean and river cruises prior to May.

Also, it was previously noted that the outbreak of coronavirus is heavily impacting the travel space. Industry downturns in the past were brought about by events like the Iraq war, the SARS pandemic and the 9/11 attacks.