Airport security in focus after cyber attack and drone reports

An industry publication's themed issue on airport safety and security collects several recent examples of the problem.

It reports that hackers posted the personal data of around 8.7 million people online after a cyber attack on Manchester Airports Group, which operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. Contact details, vehicle registrations and postcodes were among the information stolen, and the breach appears to have reached databases holding Wi-Fi log-in and car parking details. The hackers tried and failed to extort a ransom from the group.

The same issue cites reports of 227 illegal drone flights near Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City over 13 days during the summer.

Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at Check Point Software, is quoted. He said warnings that followed attacks on the automotive sector the previous year, that aviation needed to move onto a war footing, now feel very real, and that the industry should act as though a sustained campaign has begun. Waiting for an attack that stops aircraft moving before treating the threat as serious would be a dangerous mistake, he added.

Cyber attacks are described as one of the biggest security challenges facing a technology-dependent industry that has traditionally concentrated more on physical threats. Airports continue to invest in new technologies, processes and procedures to counter them, the publication adds. The issue also carries an airport profile of Techo in Phnom Penh and items on data-driven borders, airfield safety and mission critical communications, alongside features on investment rules, modular construction and theme park design.