Airline
travelers could be getting sleepless in Seattle. Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport was the apparent victim
of a cyberattack last week. But will the lingering effects complicate what
is expected to be one of the busiest holiday travel weekends in history?
The
incident happened last Saturday.
In
the meantime, airport officials say they are prepared to go back to old-fashioned
times.
"We're
working around the clock to get necessary systems back online and to mitigate
impacts for passengers," aviation managing director Lance Lyttle said.
The
Port of Seattle operates the airport and was the target of the attack. Several
online communications were affected, including the airport’s ability
to advise passengers of flight status and the baggage processing system.
But
how did this happen?
"That
is the question that is on everybody's mind, and all of our staff are working
to figure out what exactly occurred," airport spokesperson Perry Cooper
said.
Most
airlines handle their own check-in process, but smaller airlines and
international carriers rely on the airport. Airport officials reacted quickly
and placed many workers around the facility to help passengers navigate any
problems. Seattle is one of the busiest airports in the country and a gateway
for international flights going to Asia and beyond.
Fortunately,
delays and cancellations were limited.
"It's
crazy with all of the signs being down from the cyberattack and all of the crew
that are out here having to manually do things that normally would be done
electronically," one passenger said.
The
Federal Aviation Administration is
proposing new standards for cybersecurity.
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