A cyberattack causes delays and cancellations at three major European airports.
The check-in and check-in systems at Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin, which were operated by the same software company, are affected.
BarcelonaA cyberattack against a European service provider for check-in and boarding systems has disrupted operations at several major European airports, including London Heathrow, Brussels Airport, and Berlin Airport. There are delays and cancellations. El Prat Airport is operating normally, according to sources from Aena.
According to Brussels Airport, the attack has rendered automated systems inoperative, and only manual check-in and boarding procedures can be used. "This has a major impact on flight schedules and will unfortunately lead to delays and cancellations," the operator said in a statement posted on its website. Heathrow also warned of delays caused by "a technical issue" at a third-party provider. "Due to a technical issue at a systems provider operating across Europe, there are longer wait times at check-in. We are working to find a quick solution," Berlin Airport said in an information section on its website. Frankfurt Airport was not affected.
Collins Aerospace
The problem has affected the company Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at airports around the world, and once again calls into question the reliability of computer systems associated with critical infrastructure. The cyberattack has brought down the Muse software.
Professor Alan Woodword, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey, has told The Guardian The incident raises serious questions about why airports appear to rely on Collins to fix the Muse problem, suggesting that control of the system is centralized, so if Collins has to shut down to deal with the problem the disruption could be much greater.
This suggests that control of the system is likely centralized. If Collins had to shut down to deal with the problem, he notes, the “disruption would be huge.” So far, 29 departures and arrivals have been cancelled between the three affected airports, according to aviation data firm Cirium. In total, 651 departures were scheduled from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels and 226 from Berlin on Saturday.
It is the latest in a series of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks against governments and companies around the world, which have affected sectors such as healthcare, defense, commerce and automotive (recently an attack forced Jaguar Land Rover to paralyze its production of luxury vehicles).
As Rob Jardin, director of the cybersecurity company NymVPN, explained to Reuters, "increasingly, cyberattacks hackers "They are not only criminals, but are used as weapons by hostile states against Europe, and supply chains are an easy way to cause chaos."