Russian hackers launch cyber attacks on US airports

Russian hackers are being blamed for a cyber attack on the websites of key US airports including La Guardia in New York and Chicago O’hare

The airports reported the attacks to America’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency earlier today and they confirmed that the attacks originated from within the Russian Federation.

The attack, known as a Denial Of Service (DoS) was designed to cause disruption in the availability of the airports public-facing systems leaving people unable to check flight times and gain information but no system that was involved in air safety was affected.

Since the initial attack, Los Angeles LAX and Atlanta Hartsfield have also reported DoS attacks.

Given the basic nature of the attacks, it is unlikely to be state-sponsored however the attacks did coincide with a sustained missile attack on Ukraine which is being supported by the US as well as many other countries including the UK.

The USA has always stated that it thinks Russia sees cyber attacks as a viable weapon in its arsenal to deter western interference in its operations.