Air traffic control— cyber attack?

This thread aged well. Some of you look a little stupid now!

?

Not a cyber attack. Another rogue flight plan code - so the same thing that caused the issues a few years ago - and they know who uploaded it and it's definitely not Russia, Israel or anyone else dodgy. It is fixed now but with so many aircraft out of position it's going to take a while to get back to normal.

Tbh it was my first thought too. I don’t know why it’s such a big leap to suggest a cyber attack.
At this point why wouldn’t it be is more the question surely?

I've not yet seen the definitive reason stated, other than it being tech, so be interested to see/hear more.

Certainly the non-unique waypoint naming that directly caused the issue 3 years ago was meant to have been addressed worldwide some time ago.

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I think I'd prefer to believe it's a cyber attack by a known enemy who recently threatened us openly and is known to use cyber warfare than that exactly the same problem caused this chaos and they were so incompetent that they didn't make that impossible after last time.

There are some significant differences in the detail between what happened in 2023 and yesterday..

It might just be me but I think it's worth getting actual confirmation of what happened yesterday before making an assumption this is a repeat of the 2023 event and therefore UK authorities and others didn't fix it, same attack vector was available, etc.etc etc etc

Nah, NATS are just incompetent and mostly work at home so takes them forever to respond to issues. Just like the last time a few years ago.

Ok
ive just spoken to my son who is ATC at Swanwick
he was working yesterday afternoon
says it was fixed yesterday evening but there is a flight backlog
Apparently, data for some flights was coming in incorrectly and they couldn’t fix it

in time

Yeah, that's not really true.

It is demonstrably true. The boss will be eased out soon for someone who can sort the shit show organisation out.

The chief exec will probably go, yes. But saying everyone works from home isn't true either.

The controllers obviously don't but pretty much everyone else does. Last time the system went down it took an engineer 3 hours to get from home to the office. 3 hrs! This is critical infrastructure ffs and we are waiting for some bloke to get out of bed, scratch his balls, and saunter into work. NATS are a joke.

They'll be trying all the time though, and perhaps it's just this time that they've hit lucky.

I used to work for a government department and most people simply would'nt believe the amount of hacking attempts and denial of service attacks are made to key systems - almost aways unsuccessful due to the various measures in place.

And they won't be advertising if and how any succeeded.

I've seen one person report they were on the tarmac for four hours and couldn't use the toilet. How stressful. How to make a bad situation worse for people. Glad I'm safe at home. Completely worries me going away these days.

If it was/is a cyber attack then that's not good.

If it wasn't then it makes you wonder how the system would hang together if there was a cyber attack given it seems somewhat flaky under normal operation anyway.

Even longer I think. Sounds a nightmare, imagine having small children on there! We were stuck for a couple of hours last year on the tarmac and that was enough (bizarrely they had to recount the cases and then we all had to get off and identify our cases!) We only flew back Sunday so I am thankful to have missed it!

Be interested to know what reason they were given for the denial of access to the toilets whilst on the ground during an extended delay..sounds a bit odd/more than a bit unusual.

ETA: was this after landing -.in which case in hindsight I can maybe think of maybe one reason.

It's not a cyber attack.The current air traffic management system is widely known to ve not fit for purpose. NATs have been working on implementing a new system ITec for many years.

I think it could be...

If I was a hostile nation (I'm not, by the way) I would infiltrate various systems e.g. NHS, banks, power providers etc. individually over some months (this has already happened) then;

1. see how they manage the problem,
2. create a 'back door' in the system so I have access in the future,
3. insert malicious code which I could activate at a time I wanted,
4. do this over a period of time and then execute one massive, concurrent attack.

This would make an interesting book/film. I might make a start on it myself, after I have watched my recording of 'The Great British Sewing Bee'.

What one reason @notimagain ?

DH was allowed to use the toilet. They switched off the seatbelt signs so people could walk around. Why would you not be unless the tank was full?

Waste tanks full, as @OnlyUsername mentioned.

Might just, just, be a possibility at the end of a very extended Long Haul flight, but wouldn't expect it pre-departure...

Where I was in the event of a long ground delay with no aircraft movement likely it was normal to have seat belts off, facilities available.

Our water went off yesterday when I was doing my teeth. First thought - Russian cyber attack! . Turns out it was the council doing some work along the road, so I think we are all a bit o high alert 😊