Japan Airlines (JAL) said on Thursday that its systems were back to normal after an alleged cyberattack crippled its servers and halted ticket sales. This comes only days after American Airlines, one of JAL's partners, experienced a crippling Christmas Eve ground stop.
The attack began at 7:24 a.m., when the company's software connecting internal and external services became overwhelmed. Such an attack is known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and occurs when a system is overwhelmed with large amounts of data to the point where it becomes inoperable.
As a result, same-day ticket sales were halted and luggage handling operations were interrupted.
No customer data was leaked, according to the airline, and the system is believed to be unaffected by any malware. Same-day ticket sales have also returned to normal, but the standby and upgrade systems have been suspended, per a post on the airline's X page.
The standby system coordinates the listing of passengers without a seat assignment, whether it be unconfirmed passengers looking to change their ticket, or airline employees flying on a discounted ticket. The upgrade system allows gate agents to reassign seats to certain passengers in more premium cabins.
According to the Associated Press, experts have repeatedly raised concerns about the integrity of Japan's cybersecurity systems, especially as the country begins working more closely with foreign governments. Although Japan has made efforts to improve its security, experts say more work is needed.
Holiday Travel Disruptions: a Busy Period for JAL
This comes at a busy time for airlines, as hundreds of millions of holiday travelers look to catch flights home. Flight delays and cancellations during a peak travel period could cause a snowball effect, leading to further disruptions for travelers on later flights. Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 shows that operations have mostly returned to normal, with an average delay time at Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports of 20 minutes and 16 minutes, respectively.
Comments (0)
Add Your Comment
SHARE
TAGS
NEWS JAL Japan Airlines Haneda Narita CyberattackRECENTLY PUBLISHED
SpaceX Rocket Debris Forces Flight Delays for Qantas and SAA on Australia-South Africa Routes
Qantas and South African Airways (SAA) have faced flight delays and cancellations on their routes between Australia and South Africa due to falling debris from SpaceX rockets, Elon Musk's aerospace company.
NEWS
READ MORE »
Jeju Air Black Box Flight Recorders Failed Minutes Before South Korean Plane Crash
The black boxes of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft that crashed several weeks ago in Muan, South Korea, stopped working during the last four minutes of the flight. The crash killed 179 of the 181 people onboard. Without the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, investigators now face a significant setback as they lack crucial information that promised to shed light on the incident.
NEWS
READ MORE »
4-Hour Flight Airborne for Nearly 8 Hours Following "Stabilizer Issues"
A Boeing 737-800 registered to UT Air made an emergency landing on January 7th. The flight, UT Air Flight 881, reportedly experienced "stabilizer issues" mid-flight, causing the aircraft to divert to Moscow Vnukovo Airport (VKO) 6 hours and 50 minutes after takeoff. None of the 173 passengers onboard were injured.
NEWS
READ MORE »
