Flybuys wages war on cyber threats
THE nation’s largest loyalty scheme, Flybuys, is considerably upping its investment in cybersecurity to protect the personal data of its 8 million members amid the hacking scandals that have engulfed the country and businesses, such as Optus and Medibank.
Given the massive size of the Flybuys membership base, it is demanding a lot of resources from the group.
In the latest Flybuys 2022 financial accounts, the directors report confirmed it had “significantly increased investment in cyber security to help protect the company’s and members’ data”.
According to financial documents, Flybuys spent $32.62m on technology in 2022, which would include money spent on cybersecurity, up from $23.15m in technology costs incurred in 2021.
With the recent introduction of Bunnings and Officeworks to the Flybuys scheme, the loyalty program now has 23 partners where members can earn and redeem points – and also where personal data is collected, including chains such as Liquorland, Kmart, Target, Coles, Virgin Australia, and Catch.
It means that Flybuys members have access to about 20 per cent of all retail expenditure in Australia, and conversely represent a huge pool of personal and financial data that could prove a tasty target for cyber criminals.
Flybuys chief executive Anna Lee would not disclose the split of its technology budget and how much was devoted to cyber security, but said the expenditure on protecting its customer data from hackers was growing.
“As one of Australia’s most trusted loyalty programs, protecting our member data remains a top priority at Flybuys. We continually review and improve our data collection and security infrastructure, and this additional investment is reflective of that commitment to our members,” she said.
“As cyber security threats continue to evolve, so too does our investment in this space. It’s incumbent on us to not only provide the best experience possible for our members, but ensure that experience is backed by the core systems that will help protect our members.”