The bank accounts and personal details of up to 800 ferry workers are reported to have been hacked.
Stena Line discovered that UK workers’ data had been accessed by hackers who broke into its systems via fraudulent emails, according to The Sunday Times.
The hack follows British Airways disclosure that customer details from 380,000 online transactions were stolen during a raid that lasted more than two weeks.
The ferry firm said the data breach was restricted to seafaring staff and that no customer information was accessed.
The data was stolen from sea-faring staff who work on the North and Irish Seas. Stena said the data breach was limited to workers in its UK subsidiary.
Stena Line sails from ports including Harwich in Essex and Fishguard and Holyhead in Wales.
The company said it discovered a week ago that hackers had broken into two staff email accounts via “phishing” emails — fraudulent messages that encourage recipients to click on links or enter personal details, and can be used to break into systems.
It said an unknown amount of personal data, including payroll details belonging to up to 800 staff, had been accessed by the hackers.
Stena added that it had informed staff, alerted the Information Commissioner’s Office and set up a dedicated phone line. It risks being fined over the incident.
Stena told the newspaper: “We take our responsibility to safeguard our employees’ personal information very seriously – as we do with all the data we hold about our people, our customers and suppliers.
“We regret this incident has taken place. We are taking steps, with advice from cyber-security experts, to enhance our systems and processes in a way that will further protect and secure our employees’ data as well as that of our customers and counterparties, in order to minimise the risk of similar incidents happening.”