What caused the cyber attack that crippled major airports including Heathrow – and could it be a test for something bigger?
After thousands of major cyber attacks, thousands of delays and cancellations were encountered in the Great European airports at the weekend chaos.
Heathrow, Flying from Brussels and Berlin, had to manually control passengers after the attack stroke systems used for check-in and boarding and caused queues on Saturday.
Airlines, passengers warned not to go to the airports unless their flights were confirmed, transferred to Sunday. Collins Aerospace, who was shot by the attack, said he was working to solve the problem as quickly as possible, but he did not give any details about what was behind the problem.
Airlines remained “angry”, reported IndependentThe attack left Simon Calder responsible for re -reservation of travels and organizing food and accommodation for broken passengers.
Together with the passengers, they will ask for answers about who carried out the attack and what can be done to prevent it from being again.
What happened?
Airlines late on Friday night, after a cyber attack on the system provider, they had difficulties in check-in and boarding.
Collins Aerospace, an aviation and defense company, provides the systems required to control and organize passengers to airlines.
The attack forced its airlines to manually control customers, caused long queues, and left many passengers about flights and further connections in the dark.
On Saturday, large queues were reported in Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin, because travelers waited for hours for news about rearranged flights.
The European Commission said that aviation security and air traffic control was not affected.
Was Russia behind the attack?
LIB Dem Foreign Spokesman Calum Miller said on Saturday, the government, “Vladimir Putin now attacks our cyber systems now should identify urgently,” he said.
After the last 19 attacks on the Poland airspace, one of the Russian drones, he follows the increasing concern about aviation security in Europe.
But now, there is no evidence that Russia is behind the attack. In April of this year, the latest hackler, including a major attack on the British retailer M & s, was attributed to criminal gangs who wanted to force big organizations for money.
Some of these groups live in Russia and have ties with the state, but many live in elsewhere. In case of M&S attack, four people were arrested in the UK, including three young people.
Cyber Security Specialist Vyintas Maknickas, CEO of Nordvpn’s Travel Esim application Saly“Airports and airlines continue to rely on interconnected systems for operations for operations, emphasizing the increasing vulnerabilities in the aviation industry,” he said.
Which airports are affected?
The main airports affected by the cyber attack are Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin.
However, it was canceled to other major centers such as Paris, Lisbon and Amsterdam, and delayed flights will have an effect for those who try to connect there.
“This attack is the best example of the risk of supply chain risks faced by the aviation industry, Mak said Maknickas, Maknickas said. “Many airports, including those affected by this event, rely on the same third -party systems for passenger use. This approach significantly reduces flexibility while increasing operational efficiency.
“A single cyber attack on a seller can rapidly rise to widespread disruptions in multiple airports, as seen with delays and cancellations in large European centers such as Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin.”
Is it a test for something bigger?
Although the cause of the cyber attack on Friday remains uncertain, it is difficult to know if the hack is a test for something larger.
However, security experts, airlines, in case of cyber attacks, unless they create applicable backups, this event warned that “the last will not be”.
Maknickas, “Cyber security is usually considered as CT problem, but in fact it is an operational security problem,” he said.
“Aviation has long avoided its single points of failure such as more than one runway, backup power, unnecessary CommS in its physical infrastructure. The same philosophy should be applied to digital strategies. Otherwise, today’s deduction will not be the last.
“Travels trust that systems will work, flights will be separated and bags. Every cyber deduction erodes this confidence. Reconstruction requires visible investment for transparency, accountability and durability.”
