Poland’s LOT Airlines Targeted by Massive Cyber Attacks

Techworld.com.au reported on 22nd June, 2015 stating that the Polish state-run LOT Airlines was compelled to cancel at least 20 departures scheduled from Chopin airport of Warsaw on 21st June, 2015 because hackers attacked its network systems on the ground which led to a major cyber attack.

The details of the IT attack were not disclosed and it made the company incapable to make plans for outbound departures grounding roughly 1,400 passengers.

The airliner said that the attack did not influence the plane systems and aircraft which were already in the sky could continue their journey or land. The attacked only affected the ability of aircrafts to depart from the airport for very many hours.

It is not clear about the type of attack, as to whether the hackers were intentionally trying to ground the aircrafts or if the machines were downed as a part of procedure to respond such incident.

Poland's LOT Airlines did not instantly give out further details.

This isn't the sole occasion when cybercriminals or malware have attacked computer systems of airport or airlines but it is one of the very few instances where such a thumping attack actually impacted flights and their schedules.

Authorities are now investigating the cyber attack.

The attack may bring renewed scrutiny about the security systems and adequate protection of safety of airliners in the air from hackers who intend to cause havoc or even try to bring down a plane.

Gadgets.ndtv.com published news on 23rd June, 2015 quoting Sebastian Mikosz, Chief Executive of LOT, as saying "This is a problem in the industry on a much bigger scale and surely we have to be more attentive."

Naturally, cyberthreats to aviation are critical in nature because they are capable of resulting loss of life. Due to this, these threats to systems are considered seriously and so is the case of Chris Roberts, who was not allowed to fly from Colorado to San Francisco with United Airlines after he tweeted that he might hack the on-board systems of the airline. The researcher said that he could connect to computer systems via an under-the-seat connection to see data on the aircraft's engines, flight and fuel management systems.

» SPAMfighter News - 6/30/2015