June 1, 2026, 2:15 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
A cyberattack on one of the world’s largest cruise companies is causing a stir. Unknown perpetrators gained access to the internal systems of Carnival Corporation and are said to have copied data from millions of travelers. Particularly concerning for German vacationers: Aida Cruises is part of the group. The current state of the investigation reveals which information is affected and what is known so far.
Access via Employee Account
As BILD reports, citing “Ad-Hoc-News,” attackers managed to penetrate the internal systems of Carnival Corporation via an employee account as early as April 18. According to the company, the suspicious activity was not noticed until four days later.
On April 22, the Miami-based company discovered that data had been copied from the systems. In a statement, Carnival explicitly described the incident as a social engineering attack. The perpetrators did not exploit a technical vulnerability but instead deceived an employee to obtain their login credentials.
Which Data Might Be Affected
In addition to Aida Cruises, Carnival Corporation includes Costa Crociere, Cunard, and Princess Cruises.
According to an analysis of the published dataset by the website “Have I Been Pwned,” the following information is reportedly included:
- Names
- Birthdates
- Email addresses
- Gender
- Geographical information
- Passport numbers
- Driver’s license data
- Information from loyalty and bonus programs
Overall, data from nearly six million travelers could be affected, according to current findings.
When asked, Aida stated: “In the course of the ongoing investigation into data security, Carnival Corporation confirms: There is no evidence that personal data of Aida guests is affected.”
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Extortion Group Claims Responsibility for Attack
The extortion group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the cyberattack. According to the perpetrators, significantly more internal data was copied than previously known. An official confirmation of these claims by Carnival is not yet available.
Repeated Security Incidents at Carnival
For the cruise company, the current incident is not the first major cyberattack. In recent years, the company has repeatedly reported security issues where personal data and, in some cases, financial information of customers and employees were affected.
As early as 2020, Aida Cruises and Costa Crociere were targeted by hackers. At that time, the onboard system was attacked, leading to the cancellation of several planned cruises at short notice. Investigations into the new data breach are currently ongoing.