Ex-official ‘sent sensitive airline data to his e-mail’

A former Qatar Airways official sent sensitive company information to his personal e-mail while working out his notice period, a court heard yesterday.
Called to give evidence, one of the airline’s IT managers said the information was of a “confidential” nature that would only have been available to senior staff members.
He said the details related to fleet size; proposed future prices; the company’s future plans for expansion; and the launching of new air routes. Data recovered related to agreements with other companies; budgets; and future ticket prices.
Ian Heywood, a British national, denies the charges.
The 47-year-old joined the airline in May 2007 as vice-president of global sales and distribution. However, less than a year into his job he resigned to take up the position of commercial director for British carrier BMI.
The Brit was arrested in May this year and later charged with “transferring sensitive and secret information from the company to his personal e-mail”.
Qatar Airways’ 51-year-old IT manager told the court that it was strictly prohibited to transfer information outside of the company as it could “seriously damage profitability and weaken competitiveness”.
He said that if such data fell into the hands of competitors it would give them an edge in a competitive industry. Heywood was privy to such sensitive information because his position demanded he attend confidential meetings.
The IT manager also told the court that none of the information found within the defendant’s personal e-mail could have been obtained outside of the company, for example, through the airline’s magazine. He insisted the details were not in the public domain and would not have been known by less senior members of staff.
The India-born manager did not divulge to the court whether Heywood had passed any information on to a third party.
10/10/08 Nour Abuzant/Gulf Times, Qatar

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2008