And cyber attack still unknown sowed the. An operation against an operating system shared by the airports of London (Heathrow), Brussels, Berlin-Brandeburg and Dublin unused a good part of the services in these four large nuclei and much further, because the suspensions, delays and doubts They splashed the entire continent and other corners of the planet.
A word, “chaos“, which repeats recurrently security engineer of the cybersecurity company Check Point Softwarewhen explaining to El HuffPost What is known (and what is not) of an attack combined with many “striking” elements.
At the moment he asks patienceknowing that the calculation of consequences generated will still take to know each other. “The deadlines is impossible It takes months to return to 100%“He admits.
No one claims the attack
And this is especially striking, because it is common for some hacker o Organized Group advertises its authorship. Points out that it is so common that “in fact They do it until they have not beenwith such importance, as happened when the blackout in Spain. “, although the group took little to collect cable seeing that there was no ‘cast’. Today, there is not.
Non -claim already gives you a differentiated that separates him from logic of the growing ransomware. In such actions, done to steal data and demand a ‘payment’ in exchange for not publishing them, “the authors quickly issue a note demanding the rescue and noting, but here nobody has said anything.”
Surprised by a “Rare” Silence Rafael López insists that the situation “demands that we advance in the Research with great caution“.
What was the goal
The attack, clarifies for those who are lost in the infinite world of cybersecurity, He did not go against a country or an airport concrete, but against a softwarecalled MUSE and belonging to the Collins Aerospace Company.
“It is MANAGEMENT SYSTEM of Shared form The ‘counter’ of check-in and billing control of affected airports. The attack has gone against the company, which Recently he has closed contracts with NATO, So where this company was and had developed its software, there have suffered the attack, “says the head of Check Point Software.
That chaos are not just long lines to do the check-in, it is the fear that you put people when getting into the plane, it is the doubt of whether or not to go to the airport … All this is part of the game of cybercriminals
López takes Spain from the equation, since they are not attacks on countries or nuclei, “you can’t talk about objectives.” However, it emphasizes that In the last month Spain has become a priority objective For cybercriminals of all kinds. Even so, the wave of cancellations and delays arising in London, Brussels or Berlin – on the weekend of their great marathon – affected some routes with origin or destination in our country.
An increasingly wanted “chaos”
In the absence of more detailed information, Rafael López puts the focus on this issue as a possible ‘mobile’ of cyber attack. “The airport is a critical infrastructure and When you attack an airport it is a domino. With ‘just’ three large airports there have been cancellations throughout Europe. “
“It is a very juicy objective because the most important impact is the chaos it produces, that you go beyond financial. That chaos They are not just long lines To do the check-ines The fear you put people When getting into the plane, it is The question of going or not to the airport … all this is part of the game of cybercriminals. And done on the weekend, for more damage, “he continues.
To finish clarifying his approach, he pulls the logic of many years of experience in the cybersecurity sector. “If you go for data You would not attack the software of the company, you would go to the airport or the airline, so I insist on believing that They sought to sow chaos“.
Recent statistics show the interest of criminals in attacking the transport sector, already converted into One of the 10 most attacked industries in the world. He details that “only in August 2025, the figure shot 1,258 weekly attacks per organization”, expanding the average until then, that already marked an interannual rise in this type of crime. And throughout the sector, airports play a key role for their global and massive reach.
“Unless the aviation sector Treat cybersecurity with the same seriousness as physical safety And operational continuity, the risk of large -scale interruptions will continue to increase, “concludes a report that puts black on white the internal vulnerability of these infrastructure.
And the ‘Plan B’?
48 hours later, the image in many counters goes through a paper and a pen to manage shipmentsthe only alternative plan that they have been able to find in London, Berlin, Brussels and others before the macrooperation against their systems. Evidence that There was no security operation In case what happened on Saturday happened early.
Far from technicalities, López Asiente. “This is the problem, which There was no plan B to avoid ‘paper and boli’. And we must review that ‘plan B’, based on the fact that any technology can fail and that they are all vulnerable, even the one that seems invulnerable today. “
Thus, he believes that at least “there should be a recovery and continuity plan at airports, to ensure minimal functioning in cases so “, in addition to” having Systems of backup or alternative softwares “to avoid total loss. It has not been the case, as seen,” and what remains … “.
However, it considers that this attack will be useful with immediate effects. “Yes, because in every incident there is a phase of ‘lessons learned‘And they will be taken Lessons in the form of revision of its particular ‘Plans B’“. Also in those infrastructure that have not been achieved, such as the Spanish.
You have to say it: flying is safe
“Yes, yes, it is essential to say it to avoid unnecessary fears,” the specialist responds quickly. López recalls that “the billing system and check-inbut It has nothing to do with the control tower, or with the airplanes Neither anything, because their systems go on another way. ”
Therefore, he does not hesitate to affirm, and even repeat, that “Flying is safe; Although they have made the shipment by hand, The plane operates normally And flying is safe. ”
