British Airways faces record fine over data breach

London : British Airways on Monday made an official announcement that they are facing a record fine of 183 million pounds ($229 million) for last year's breach of its security systems.

The airline said it was "surprised and disappointed" by the penalty from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the BBC reported.

"We are surprised and disappointed in this initial finding from the ICO," Alex Cruz, British Airways' chairman and Chief Executive, said in a statement.

"British Airways responded quickly to a criminal act to steal customers' data. We have found no evidence of fraud/fraudulent activity on accounts linked to the theft.

"We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this event caused."

According to the news report, the stolen data does not include travel or passport details. The information included names, email addresses, credit card information such as credit card numbers, expiration dates and the three-digit CVV code found on the back of credit cards, although British Airways has said it did not store CVV numbers.

The ICO said on Monday it was the biggest penalty it had ever handed out and the first to be made public under new rules, the BBC reported.

Till date, the biggest penalty was imposed on Facebook of 500,000 pounds over data breach in the Cambridge Analytica.

The British Airways can make an appeal within 28 days.