A cyber attack on a supplier of registration and boarding systems disrupted operations in several major European airports, including Heathrow in London, the busiest on the continent, causing the flight delays and cancellations on Saturday.
Collins Aerospace, which provides systems for several airlines in airports around the world, is experiencing a technical problem that can cause delays for leaving passengers, said Heathrow airport, having warned of delays.
Brussels airport and Berlin airport were also affected by the attack, they said in separate statements.
RTX RTX.N, the parent company of Collins Aerospace, said that it had become aware of a “disturbance linked to the cyber” of its software in selected airports, without naming them.
A few hours later, Dublin airport said it was also faced with a minor impact on the issue, with Cork Airport, the second largest in Ireland after Dublin.
“The impact is limited to customer electronic recording and luggage fall and can be attenuated with manual registration operations,” said RTX in an e-mail statement, adding that it was working to solve the problem as quickly as possible. He did not give any information on who could be behind the attack.
In Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels, 29 departures and arrivals have been canceled so far, said the aviation data provider Cirium. A total of 651 departures were planned from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels and 226 from Berlin on Saturday.
Disturbance is the last in a series of cyber-attacks of cyber and increasingly sophisticated ransomware targeting governments and companies around the world, hitting the health care and defense sectors to retail and cars. A recent violation of the luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has stopped production.
Rob Jardin, digital director of NYMVPN cybersecurity experts, said the incident highlighted the vulnerability of critical infrastructure when it is based on third -party suppliers.
“Increasingly, pirates are not only criminals but are armed by hostile nation states against Europe, with supply chains considered as an easy way to cause chaos.”
The Federal Federal Information Security Office of Germany, the BSI, said that it was in contact with Berlin airport on “infrastructure disturbances” following a breakdown of a global system for passenger management.
The National Cyber ​​Security Center British said that he was working with Collins Aerospace and affected British airports to fully understand the impact of the incident.
Brussels Airport said on his website that he had to use manual recording and boarding procedures, adding that the incident occurred on Friday evening.
“This has a significant impact on the flight calendar and will unfortunately lead to delays and cancellations,” he said.
The airport has said that 10 flights have been canceled so far, with an average period of one hour for all departure flights.
Passengers left in the darkness
The passengers with a flight scheduled for Saturday were informed by the airports affected to confirm their trip with airlines before going to the airport.
Tereza Pultarova, a journalist, spoke to BBC News in Heathrow, where she was to go to Amsterdam at 6:30 am for a connection flight to Cape Town.
“Unfortunately, the airline with which I am … they have no service service here, so we were left in the dark,” she said. “It was a big chaos, and it was enough … frustrating for most people here,” she said.
Berlin airport said on his website that there were longer waiting times for recording and that he was working on a quick solution. Frankfurt Airport, the largest in Germany, has not been hit, said a spokesperson.
At Berlin Airport Kim Reisen had trouble with delays and the lack of clarity, telling Reuters that it was only told that there was “a technical fault”.
Another traveler, Siegfried Schwarz, also from Berlin, said: “I … I find it inexplicable that with today’s technology, there is no way to defend yourself against something like that.”
Easyjet works as normal
Easyjet, among the largest airlines in Europe, said that it currently operated as usual and did not expect the problem to have an impact on its flights for the rest of the day.
The owners of Ryanair and British Airways did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The American carrier Delta Air Lines said that it expected a minimal impact on flights leaving the three affected airports, adding that it had implemented a bypass to minimize the disturbances. United Airlines said the problem “caused minor starting delays”, but he had not canceled any flight.
There was no indication of threats to Polish airports, said Digital Digital Directors and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski.
British Minister for Transport Heidi Alexander said that she received regular updates on the situation.
