Carnival data breach impacting nearly 6 million travelers announced

(Gray News) - The Carnival Corporation announced this week that it has detected a cybersecurity incident where certain travelers’ personal information may have been leaked.

According to Carnival, the company’s IT security team identified unauthorized activity involving a compromised employee’s account on April 14.

“An unauthorized actor used social engineering to deceive an employee to gain access to a limited portion of the company’s IT system,” the company shared in a news release.

Carnival said it acted quickly to block the unauthorized activity and started working with security experts to conduct a thorough investigation.

However, as part of the investigation, the company says it determined that the personal information in question included driver’s license and passport numbers, phone numbers, names and addresses and dates of birth.

According to a data breach notice with the Maine Attorney General’s office, the hack affected the personal information of 5,995,277 people.

The company said it is notifying the affected individuals whose data was impacted and offering U.S. customers two years ​of free credit monitoring through TransUnion, with ​notifications beginning on May 27.

If travelers have any further questions, Carnival says they can also contact the TransUnion call center at 1-844-593-8310.

Carnival has several cruise lines, including Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Line.