The Great Britain Suspects Cyberattack in Air Control System Malfunctions
The Great Britain does not exclude that for malfunctions in air control systems, which led to serious delays in flights in the country, there may be a cyberatak.
The ministers held consultations with the NATS (Britain’s National Air Traffic Service) air traffic control company to minimize interruptions caused by malfunctions in the company’s automated systems. NATS claims that the malfunction was the result of a “technical problem” without specifying its reasons. However, a source from British intelligence, who previously worked at GCHQ, believes that there is reason to believe that the cause of the hacker attack was the reason.
At the moment, the authorities have not revealed obvious signs of “suspicious” activity, but they continue to consider various versions of what is happening.
Mark Harper, Minister of Transport, called on passengers to get acquainted with the recommendations of the civil aviation service in order to learn about possible compensation due to delays. Secretary Suella Braverman emphasized that automated systems have failed, and now the procedures are performed manually. “Engineers are actively working on solving the problem,” she added.
Earlier, air traffic control systems became the goal of hackers trying to violate the operation of European airspace. Recall that in April last year, an attempt to pro-Russian hackers to violate the work of the European Air Navigation Organization was unsuccessful.
The Party of Liberal Democrats called on Rishi Sunak to convene an extraordinary meeting to solve the problems that arose due to chaos in air traffic. The Speaker of the Transport Party Vera Hobhaus expressed fears: “Millions of vacationers may face serious interruptions because of this malfunction in the coming days.”