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Japan Airlines has confirmed that it has been the victim of a Dec. 26 cyberattack that delayed more than 20 domestic flights, although it is understood that the situation is now under control and there was never any impact on flight safety. Here’s what we know.
Japan Airlines Comes Under Denial Of Service Hack Attack
The attack against the Japan Airlines internal and external computer systems is understood to have started early on Boxing Day morning and continued for a number of hours. “JAL’s ticket sales for both domestic and international fights scheduled for departure on Thursday were suspended,” an Associated Press report said, with the airline pointing the finger in the direction of a distributed denial of service attack.
The Kyodo News said that Japan Airlines had reported “no personal information was leaked and no damage was caused by computer viruses,” as a result of the cyberattack. The publication also said that Japan Post Co. had reported that both mail and parcel deliveries were affected by the Japan Airlines cyberattack flight disruptions.
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Japan’s Transport Ministry Requested Japan Airlines Repair Systems As Soon As Possible Following The DDoS Attack
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, told a press conference that the transport ministry had “requested JAL to repair its system as soon as possible to respond appropriately to affected customers.”
A DDoS attack can be made effective by utilizing multiple compromised computer systems to launch the traffic overload, with exploited machines often including Internet of Things devices. “From a high level,” Cloudflare describes a DDoS attack as “like an unexpected traffic jam clogging up the highway, preventing regular traffic from arriving at its destination.”
I have reached out to Japan Airlines for an official statement and will update this breaking story as soon as any further information is available. Currently there is no indication as to who was behind the attack or what the motive for it may have been.
