As confirmed by INISA, the cyber security agency of the European Union, flights at major airports in Europe have been disrupted due to a ransomware attack on a check-in and boarding software manufacturer called Collins Aerospace. According to INISA, hackers have attacked airports around the world.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Air flights in Europe have been affected due to cyber attacks in various countries of the European Union and the UK. On September 20 alone, 600 flights were canceled and delayed due to the cyber attacks that started on September 19. There is no information about where such a cyber attack is taking place.
Check-in and boarding software maker Collins said it is working to restore systems at affected airports. Europe's busiest airports London Heathrow and Brussels Airport are also affected. Due to the Berlin Marathon, the check-in system has not yet started at the Berlin airport, which has more passengers than usual on Monday . Due to this, there is a crowd in the departure hall and there are reports that the flight is delayed for more than an hour.
Hand written boarding passes were issued after the online system was down . European travelers are responding to this with a sense of a return to the pre-internet era . Cybercriminals are using ransomware methods to wreak havoc at airports around the world, according to the European Union's Cyber Security Agency. Hackers have demanded a ransom in Bitcoin to prevent further damage after disrupting the airport's digital systems.
"We are actively working," Brussels Airport said in a statement, "but it is still uncertain when this problem will be resolved." According to the AP news agency, Brussels and Heathrow Airports requested airlines to cancel about 140 of the 276 flights scheduled for Monday.
Berlin Airport told the BBC that some airlines are providing handwritten boarding passes to passengers and it is not known when the electronic system will be back in operation. Cyber attackers have targeted Muse, a popular check-in software. Collins Aerospace has not disclosed detailed information about this . Collins did not comment on when the airport's online systems will be restored.
Recently, ransomware attacks have become a major problem for organizations around the world. From this, cyber criminals are earning hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Last April, British e-commerce platform, Marks & Spencer also fell victim to a ransomware attack . The platform said that the loss of at least 400 million pounds was caused by the disruption of service for months. The company did not disclose whether it paid the ransom to the attackers.
According to a recent report by the French aerospace company Thales, cyber attacks in the aviation sector have increased by 600 percent in recent years. There are many cases of ransomware attacks in this too . Ransomware is a computer virus that locks files or systems. The attacker demands money (ransom) to open that lock . According to CNN, according to a survey conducted by Bitcom, a German industry group, only one in seven companies that have been attacked by ransomware have responded that they got their data back after paying.
