A jet taxies at Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok in the New Territories. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Wednesday that data of about 9.4 million passengers of Cathay and its unit Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited had been accessed without authorisation. Cathay said 860,000 passport numbers, about 245,000 Hong Kong identity card numbers, 403 expired credit card numbers and 27 credit card numbers with no card verification value (CVV) were accessed in the breach. We are very sorry for any concern this data security event may cause our passengers, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Rupert Hogg said in a statement. We acted immediately to contain the event, commence a thorough investigation with the assistance of a leading cybersecurity firm, and to further strengthen our IT security measures. Hogg said no passwords were compromised in the breach and the company was contacting affected passengers to give them information on how to protect themselves. Cathay Pacific was not immediately available for additional comment outside normal business hours. The company said it initially discovered suspicious activity on its network in March 2018 and investigations in early May confirmed that certain personal data had been accessed. News of Cathay's passenger data breach comes weeks after British Airways revealed that credit card details of hundreds of thousands of its customers were stolen over a two-week period. Cathay in a statement said accessed data includes names of passengers, their nationalities, dates of birth, telephone numbers, email and physical addresses, passport numbers, identity card numbers and historical travel information. It added that the Hong Kong Police had been notified about the breach and that there is no evidence that any personal information has been misused. Reuters custom bar braceletcustom sports braceletscustom logo wristbandsde securite pour personne ageeembossed wristbandscolorfilled wristbandsembossed printed wristbandsdual layer wristbands
List to be cut to '17 or 18' choices, including engineers and scientistsA senior Chinese space official announced the selection of the country's third batch of astronaut candidates on Monday and is expected to narrow the group down to 17 to 18 after more testing."The selection process covers three periods, and we will select both males and females," said Yang Liwei, head of the China Manned Space Agency and the nation's first astronaut.It was the first time Yang had appeared in public as the agency's head, having served as deputy head since 2010.The second group of astronauts recruited in 2010 had two women on a seven-member team."The total number of final candidates for the third group will be about 17 or 18. The types of astronauts covered are pilots, maintenance engineers and payload scientists," Yang said."Those new astronauts will attend to tasks related to our space station flight after completing their training," he said.The backgrounds and types of people eligible for recruitment will also be different from previous selections."The scope will cover not only pilots from the People's Liberation Army Air Force but also flight engineers and scientists from related industries, universities and institutions," he said.China selected its first group of 14 astronauts in 1998 and the second group 12 years later. All were accomplished pilots from the PLA Air Force, and they successfully completed a total of six manned space missions.The third round of selection was more complex than others because of new mission requirements, Yang said on China Central Television."We have invited more dedicated young people to join the recruitment process to help transform our nation into a space powerhouse," Yang said.China plans to start assembling its first space station in 2020. The facility, which will be designed to last at least 10 years, is scheduled to enter full service two years later. Each group of astronauts will occupy it for three to six months.Also on Monday, a special foundation established by Zeng Xianzi - founder of Hong Kong-listed Goldlion Group - honored 119 people who stood out during China's earlier space missions.The foundation, which was set up in 2004, aims to reward outstanding talent in the aerospace industry and has granted more than 57.9 million yuan ($9.2 million) to 369 people so far, including astronauts, scientists and project managers.Tuesday is China Space Day.
