Japan Airlines (JAL) faced a cyberattack on Thursday, leading to delays on over 20 domestic flights during the busy year-end season. The airline swiftly responded, restoring systems within hours and assuring passengers that flight safety was not compromised.
The ordeal began on Thursday morning when JAL's network, connecting internal and external systems, started malfunctioning. The disruption coincided with the peak holiday travel period, causing scenes of crowded terminals at Tokyo's Haneda airport as passengers awaited their flights.
JAL identified the attack as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), aiming to overwhelm the network with massive data traffic. Despite the chaos, there was no involvement of viruses or customer data breaches. As a result, 24 domestic flights experienced delays of over 30 minutes.
Cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Japan have been a concern among experts, especially as the nation enhances its defense capabilities. This incident adds to a series of cyberattacks Japan has faced, including recent assaults on its space agency and a container terminal in Nagoya last year.
In response to the latest attack, JAL temporarily suspended ticket sales for affected flights but quickly resumed operations later in the day. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi emphasized the government's commitment to supporting JAL in restoring systems and accommodating passengers.
Other airlines, such as ANA Holdings, Skymark, and Starflyer, remained unaffected by the cyberattack.
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Japan Airlines hit by hacks, delaying flights during year-end season
cgtn.com
