Reuters
–
Some of Europe’s biggest airports faced more disruption on Monday after Hackers knocked out the automated check-in system offered by RTX-owned Collins Aerospace, affecting dozens of flights and thousands of passengers from Friday.
The disruption was caused by cyberattacks, the EU cybersecurity agency confirmed Monday, highlighting the growing risk of such attacks on critical infrastructure and industries.
Law enforcement was involved in investigating, Enisa said in a statement without providing details about where the cyberattacks began.
Governments and businesses have been targeted in cyberattacks for recent months, including luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover.
Collins said Monday that he was working with affected airports, including Brussels and London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airports, and was in the final stages of completing the update to restore full functionality.
Faced with a higher than normal passenger count on Monday due to the Berlin Marathon, Berlin Airport had not yet restored its check-in system and had reported a delay of over an hour due to departure.
One passenger described the boarding process as similar to decades of commercial air travel with handwritten boarding passes.
Brussels airport was using iPads and laptops to check passengers online. Of the approximately 550 departures and arrival flights, 60 must be cancelled on Monday.
Dublin Airport had experienced “minimal impacts” and had several manual processes in place.
A study of around 1,000 companies by German industry group Bitkom found that malicious software that locks data until it is restored for victims to access — is the most common form of cyberattacks, with one in seven companies paying a ransom.
