A Russian hacking group called Killnet has claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on the websites of more than a dozen of America’s busiest airports, temporarily rendering parts of the site unusable to the public.
The compromised systems do not concern air traffic control, internal communication and airline coordination or transport security, but it has caused problems for the general public when trying to access web domains with airport wait times and congestion information.
According to several agencies, the affected airports are Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and New York’s LaGuardia Airport, as well as Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.
The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it is monitoring the situation but had no concerns about airport operations. The Port Authority said it had notified the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the attack on airport systems.
Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency both stated that they were aware of the attacks, and engineers and programmers are actively working to close backdoors that facilitated the attacks and secure a more critical computer infrastructure.
The sources for this piece include an article in ABCNews.