Airports in Crisis: What the Recent European Cyberattack Reveals about Aviation Resilience

Last weekend, Europe’s aviation sector was jolted by a cyberattack that exposed just how fragile even the most critical infrastructure can be. Major airports including Heathrow, Brussels, Berlin and Dublin were plunged into chaos when a provider of check-in and boarding services was hit by ransomware, crippling its system and forcing airports to scramble to manual modes of operation.

In the days since, more detail has emerged – and the response is sharpening. UK authorities have now arrested a man in West Sussex in connection with the incident, marking a pivotal turning point in the investigation.

As the dust settles somewhat, it’s clear this episode offers stark lessons for aviation, infrastructure and cybersecurity communities alike. At Assure Technical, we see both alarming warning signs and opportunities to build stronger, more resilient systems.

What We Know Now

• Attack vector and impact: The ransomware hit a software platform used by multiple airlines and airports for check-in, boarding and baggage drop.
• Operational fallback: Airports reverted to manual check-in and baggage tagging. This mitigated some impact, but the strain on staff, queues and logistics was severe – and flight delays and cancellations were unavoidable.
• Arrest signals escalation: In the UK, the National Crime Agency arrested a man in his 40s under suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act. He was released on conditional bail, and the investigation continues.
• Scope and scale: Brussels Airport, in particular, was hard hit – at one point planning to cancel half of departing flights to manage passenger flow. Meanwhile, some airlines (e.g. British Airways) were reportedly less impacted thanks to backup systems.
• Repeat victim status: the system provider has been linked to earlier data security incidents, and this disruption fuels concerns about systemic vulnerabilities in aerospace IT third parties.

Key Lessons & Strategic Imperatives

1. Third-party digital risk must be front and centre

It’s no longer sufficient to protect in-house systems. The providers of check-in, boarding, baggage, and allied subsystems are integral to airport operations. Their security posture becomes your own. Rigorous vetting, ongoing audits, penetration testing and contractual cybersecurity obligations must be standard.

2. Resilience is more than prevention

Ransomware and disruptive cyberattacks are not edge scenarios – they are now part of the threat horizon. Mitigation strategies must include robust fallback planning, manual process rehearsals, and operational continuity under duress.

3. Segmentation, zero trust and defensive depth

This attack likely exploited lateral movement within shared networks or infrastructure. Strict segmentation, role-based access controls, and zero-trust architectures are vital to preventing a single compromise from cascading.

4. Preparedness in response – not just detection

Speed of detection, containment and recovery defines how much damage an attacker can cause. Playbooks, incident response teams, real-time threat hunting and decision protocols should be continuously exercised and updated.

5. Legal, compliance and reputational stakes escalate

Airports and operators face more than disruption – they face regulatory scrutiny, liability to passengers, insurance claims and public relations pressure. Demonstrable due diligence, robust cyber hygiene and transparent reporting are key to maintaining trust.

6. Intelligence sharing and threat collaboration

No aviation entity is an island. Sharing timely, actionable threat intelligence – across airports, airlines, national CERTs and industry consortia – is a force multiplier in anticipating and countering emerging tactics and threat groups.

Moving Forward with Confidence

To restore trust and harden infrastructure, we believe the industry must adopt a multi-layered, anticipatory approach:

• Continuous risk assessment across all suppliers, including those that may seem peripheral today.
• Regular network segmentation reviews and least-privilege access policies to limit blast radius.
• Frequent disaster recovery drills and cross-functional simulations, covering worst-case ransomware or service provider failures.
• Investment in advanced detection and response tools, from behavioural analytics to endpoint threat hunting.
• Robust contractual cybersecurity clauses in vendor agreements – requiring transparency, audits, breach reporting and liability.
• Industry forums for shared situational awareness, creating a collective “immune system” against attack campaigns.

Conclusion

This European airport cyberattack is more than just a headline – it’s a real, instructive warning. It shows how dependencies on external technology layers introduce critical risk, and how the cost of failure in aviation is borne by travellers, operators and entire national systems.

For stakeholders across the aviation and infrastructure sectors, the path forward is clear: build systems that anticipate failure, assume breach, and respond with agility. Because when high-stakes operations like aviation are disrupted, the world stops – and the reputational and financial costs are borne by those who underestimated the threat.

Talk to the experts today to discover how we can help strengthen your defences.

At Assure Technical, our mission is to help clients not just defend – but anticipate, adapt and recover. If your organisation needs help stress-testing your resilience or designing cyber strategy for mission-critical systems, we’d be glad to talk. Find out about our Security Audit service – rely on our expertise to identify your vulnerabilities and recommend cost effective improvements.