Japan Airlines (JAL) was hit by a cyberattack on Thursday, causing delays to over 20 domestic flights during the year-end holiday season. The attack started in the morning when JAL’s network connecting internal and external systems began malfunctioning.
According to JAL, the cause of the problem was an attempt to overwhelm the network system with massive data transmissions, similar to a denial-of-service (DoS) attack. This type of attack floods a system or network with traffic until the target cannot respond or crashes.
Despite the severity of the attack, there was no impact on flight safety, JAL said. The airline’s systems were restored hours later, and ticket sales resumed several hours after the attack started.
Experts have long raised concerns about Japan’s vulnerability to cyberattacks due to its relatively weak cybersecurity defenses compared to other countries like the US. In recent months, Japan’s space agency has reported multiple cyberattacks, including a series of incidents since 2023 that did not affect sensitive information related to national security.
The transport ministry told JAL to accelerate efforts to restore the system and accommodate affected passengers. Other Japanese airlines were not affected by the attack.
As millions of people travel back to their hometowns from cities during the New Year holidays, this cyberattack highlights the risks of disruptions in critical infrastructure during peak periods. The attack also underscores the need for Japan to improve its cybersecurity defenses to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/japan-jal-cyberattack-flights-travel-04fbd4848f3015a77057339a5c90ca32