Cyberattack on Japan Airlines Causes Delays and System Shutdown
Japan Airlines (JAL) stated that it resumed operations after a cyberattack that halted domestic and international flights on December 26. The airline said that the problem was due to a “large data attack” and was not related to customer base information or the safety of the flights. JAL resumed same-day ticket sales after addressing the incident.
Cyberattack Causes Flight Delays and Service Interruptions
The cyberattack began at 7:24 AM, impacting the organization’s internal and external technological structures of JAL. As a preventive measure, the airline disconnected a router with a technical problem, which led to a halt in issuing tickets for the flights that were to leave on the same day. Despite quick recovery measures, 24 domestic flights experienced delays of over 30 minutes, and issues with the baggage check-in system caused disruptions at multiple Japanese airports.
As stated by JAL on the social media platform X the airline was able to locate and fix the problem. While the company did not elaborate more about what transpired, Japanese media outlets said the disruption was possibly due to a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack.
The “Airport Standby Service” for domestic flights was not available for the day while JAL focused on the complete recovery from the disruption.
Stock Market Impact and Broader Implications
This cyberattack had brief effects on the performance of the JAL stocks. Shares dropped by 2.5% in the morning trade but pared the loss to end 0.2% down at JPY 2,466. It also explains the increasing risk of cyberattacks targeting the critical infrastructure in Japan.
Cybersecurity threats are not an isolated problem for Japan Airlines only. The country has witnessed various cyber attacks in the recent past such as the cyber-attacks on the Japan Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Toyota supply chain. These occurrences stress the need for protective IT security practices within organizations.
Comparison With Global Aviation Incidents
Although JAL was able to recover their systems it emphasized that such problems have recently affected aviation globally. This week, American Airlines suffered from a brief technical difficulty during the high holiday time, which resulted in suspended flights and impacting thousands of people. Such events indicate that the aviation industry remains exposed to routine equipment failure and malicious cyberattacks.
Japan’s aviation industry managing to come out of additional misfortunes this year such as the January accident where a JAL aircraft collided with a Coast Guard plane. Further, a recent government report has blamed human error for the accident, highlighting the importance of operational diligence and cybersecurity measures.
The management of Japan Airlines reassured its customers that it is capable of providing flights with very high safety and minimizing interferences. The event has raised issues on the main imperative of global aviation companies to enhance investment in high-end cybersecurity and robust operations.
