Airports are ill-equipped to deal with a major cyber attack

David Oliver, global transport security lead at PA Consulting Group, comments: “Fundamentally, the focus on physical security needs to be applied with the same rigour in the cyber arena if airports are going to build resilience to potentially catastrophic cyber attacks. If the industry does not act now, it will find itself at increased vulnerability to cyberattacks as new technologies become part of everyday operations.”

One key trend increasing dependency on systems that could be subject to cyber attacks is that a number of airports are exploring the option of providing remote control and monitoring for air traffic control systems and on the airfield. As remote towers are highly dependent on the data links that transmit information from one place to another, a cyber attack or physical attack could disrupt operations, including making it impossible to manage airport traffic.

David Oliver continues: “With the EU Network and Information Systems Directive, which aims to improve the cyber resilience of the UK’s essential services, now in force, UK airports risk penalties of up to ?17M for failing to put in place appropriate cyber security measures.”