The week did not start well for German ANSP Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS). German media reported that the company is under an ongoing cyber attack. The first article was published by Bayerischer Rundfunk, which you can
read (in German) here. DFS communicated openly about the attack, which we give them kudos for. They made it clear that while it affected the office IT, it did not impact the ATM systems. There were no traffic restrictions and DFS confirmed that air traffic control is running normally and that safety and capacity are not compromised. DFS is now taking defense measures and is no longer communicating further details, for obvious reasons.
The German domestic intelligence services, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) is informed and a part of the investigation. According to information from
br.de - which has
not been confirmed by other sources - some Russian hacker groups are suggested to be involved in this attack.
The strategic importance of ANSPs make them attractive targets for hackers. If an attacker was to bring down an ATM system, it would have a significant impact. In this instance, that did not happen, and DFS' operational systems as well as their fallbacks are all working normally. Ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine can exacerbate such attacks, with several organizations already becoming targets. ANSPs have to be ready. EUROCONTROL Computer Emergency Response Team
(EATM-CERT) is one example of great
awareness and preparedness. The burden of cybersecurity is relatively new to ANSPs, which for years operated outside of the internet. In our era of connectivity, such issues must be taken very seriously.
On a lighter note, our sister aviation news website, Hotel Fox Fox, reported about an interesting case:
Air France flight AF1192, which had not less than five go-arounds and two diversions on the same day. Statistical anomaly or deeper causes?
Vincent