Several major airports across Europe experienced significant disruptions on Monday due to a cyberattack that incapacitated automatic check-in systems operated by Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX. The incident, first reported last Friday, has impacted dozens of flights and affected thousands of passengers.
The European Union’s cybersecurity agency confirmed that the disruptions resulted from a cyber intrusion, underscoring the rising threats faced by critical infrastructure sectors. Law enforcement agencies are currently investigating the origins of the attack, according to ENISA, the EU’s cybersecurity agency, although specific details have not been disclosed.
This latest incident is part of a troubling trend, with recent months seeing increased cyberattacks targeting both government and private entities. Notably, luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover had to halt production due to a separate cyber incident.
On Monday, Collins Aerospace announced that they were collaborating with the affected airports, including the bustling London Heathrow and Brussels Airport, to restore full functionality to their systems. The company indicated that updates were underway and in the final stages.
However, not all airports had successfully reestablished their check-in systems. Berlin Airport, facing a surge in passengers due to the Berlin Marathon, reported that its check-in operations remained offline, resulting in departure delays exceeding one hour. One traveler likened the chaotic boarding process to the early days of commercial aviation, where handwritten boarding passes were a common sight.
At Brussels Airport, staff resorted to using iPads and laptops to manually check-in passengers. Of approximately 550 flights scheduled for the day, around 60 were cancelled. Meanwhile, Dublin Airport reported only “minimal impact” from the attack and implemented several manual processes to mitigate disruption.
The incident illuminates the pervasive threat of ransomware attacks, a form of malicious software that locks users out of their data until a ransom is paid, according to a recent survey conducted by German industry group Bitkom. The survey revealed that one in seven companies had resorted to paying a ransom, highlighting the complexities and challenges organizations face in the evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats.
