Cyberattack Delays Flights at Several of Europe's Major Airports (apnews.com)
(Saturday September 20, 2025 @11:44PM (EditorDavid)
from the flight-patterns dept.)
- Reference: 0179411150
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/20/2119232/cyberattack-delays-flights-at-several-of-europes-major-airports
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/europe-airports-cyberattack-29b6d890baf7ac3a22f0f2b2f169b890
"A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems disrupted air traffic and caused delays at several of Europe's major airports on Saturday," [1]reports the Associated Press .
"While the impact on travelers appeared to be limited, experts said the intrusion exposed vulnerabilities in security systems."
> The disruptions to electronic systems initially reported at Brussels, Berlin's Brandenburg and London's Heathrow airports meant that only manual check-in and boarding was possible. Many other European airports said their operations were unaffected... Airports said the issue centered around a provider of check-in and boarding systems — not airlines or the airports themselves. Collins Aerospace, whose systems help passengers check themselves in, print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage from a kiosk, cited a "cyber-related disruption" to its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software at "select airports."
Brussels Airport initially reported a "large impact" on flight schedules," according to the article, with a spokesperson telling broadcaster VTM that by mid-morning nine flights had been canceled, with four more redirected to another airport and 15 delayed an hour or more. The airport later [2]told Reuters there were "delays on most of the departing flights."
Reuters notes it's "the latest in a string of hacks targeting governments and companies across the world, hitting sectors from healthcare and [3]defence to [4]retail and autos.:
> A [5]recent breach at luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover brought its production to a halt...
>
> At Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels, 29 flight departures and arrivals had been cancelled as of 1130 GMT, aviation data provider Cirium said. In total, 651 departures were scheduled from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels and 226 from Berlin on Saturday... Brussels Airport said it had asked airlines to cancel half of their scheduled departing flights on Sunday to avoid long queues and late cancellations, signalling that the disruption would continue through the weekend.
>
> A European Commission spokesperson said there were currently no indications of a "widespread or severe attack" and that the origin of the incident was still under investigation.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/europe-airports-cyberattack-29b6d890baf7ac3a22f0f2b2f169b890
[2] https://www.reuters.com/en/cyberattack-causes-flight-delays-cancellations-brussels-airport-2025-09-20/
[3] https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/uk-military-personnels-data-accessed-hack-bbc-reports-2024-05-06/
[4] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ms-digital-chief-exits-months-after-damaging-hack-2025-09-11/
[5] https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/uk-working-closely-with-jaguar-land-rover-after-cyber-incident-2025-09-19/
"While the impact on travelers appeared to be limited, experts said the intrusion exposed vulnerabilities in security systems."
> The disruptions to electronic systems initially reported at Brussels, Berlin's Brandenburg and London's Heathrow airports meant that only manual check-in and boarding was possible. Many other European airports said their operations were unaffected... Airports said the issue centered around a provider of check-in and boarding systems — not airlines or the airports themselves. Collins Aerospace, whose systems help passengers check themselves in, print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage from a kiosk, cited a "cyber-related disruption" to its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software at "select airports."
Brussels Airport initially reported a "large impact" on flight schedules," according to the article, with a spokesperson telling broadcaster VTM that by mid-morning nine flights had been canceled, with four more redirected to another airport and 15 delayed an hour or more. The airport later [2]told Reuters there were "delays on most of the departing flights."
Reuters notes it's "the latest in a string of hacks targeting governments and companies across the world, hitting sectors from healthcare and [3]defence to [4]retail and autos.:
> A [5]recent breach at luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover brought its production to a halt...
>
> At Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels, 29 flight departures and arrivals had been cancelled as of 1130 GMT, aviation data provider Cirium said. In total, 651 departures were scheduled from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels and 226 from Berlin on Saturday... Brussels Airport said it had asked airlines to cancel half of their scheduled departing flights on Sunday to avoid long queues and late cancellations, signalling that the disruption would continue through the weekend.
>
> A European Commission spokesperson said there were currently no indications of a "widespread or severe attack" and that the origin of the incident was still under investigation.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/europe-airports-cyberattack-29b6d890baf7ac3a22f0f2b2f169b890
[2] https://www.reuters.com/en/cyberattack-causes-flight-delays-cancellations-brussels-airport-2025-09-20/
[3] https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/uk-military-personnels-data-accessed-hack-bbc-reports-2024-05-06/
[4] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ms-digital-chief-exits-months-after-damaging-hack-2025-09-11/
[5] https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/uk-working-closely-with-jaguar-land-rover-after-cyber-incident-2025-09-19/
current H1B fears, that were misplaced (Score:2)
by nevermindme ( 912672 )
There is large pulse of people inbound with current H1B fears, that were misplaced by the media in India most of Friday. I hope people slow down and read the EO and the guidance released before booking the flight at surge pricing.
How is that "cheap" IT security working out? (Score:2)
by gweihir ( 88907 )
Maybe a bit more expensive than you thought?
It is high time to regard events such as this as gross management negligence and to start holding the screw-ups personally responsible. Otherwise things will just continue to get worse.
DUB significantly affected also (Score:1)
Donâ(TM)t forget DUB (Dublin) - both Terminals were evacuated for what reportedly were two detonators in a passengerâ(TM)s bag originating from Heathrow. The EOD was activated for that. Between that and the cyberattack at least three DUB to USA transatlantic flights were cancelled which seems to have filled the Dublin hotel system to capacity (ask me how I know).