Irish wildlife park warns visitors to cancel bank cards after discovering cyberattack

People who purchased tickets over the summer to visit Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, Ireland, are being warned to cancel their bank cards following the discovery of a cyberattack that may have exposed the data on those cards.

The park, a 100-acre site on Fota Island in Cork Harbour, usually receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and houses a range of rare animals, including a tiger and rhino, as well as breeds of zebra, giraffe and ostrich.

In an email to customers, reported by public broadcaster RTÉ, the park said hackers may have compromised financial data from anyone who bought a ticket on its website between 12 May and 27 August.

“We understand this may be of significant concern to you. We would like to assure you that we take our responsibility to protect your personal and financial information seriously and have given this matter the utmost priority,” the email stated.

Alongside financial data, customers have been warned “If you have a user account on the Fota website, the username, password and email address linked to that account may have been accessed.”

The park told customers it has brought in an external forensic cybersecurity company to investigate the incident, and has taken immediate steps to prevent further access and identify what information was stolen.

“The organization's incident response plan was immediately activated, an internal investigation was instigated and appropriate measures were taken to secure the organization’s website,” the park stated.

Although the park’s website is currently closed, the facility itself remains open to visitors who can purchase tickets upon entry.