Russian-speaking hackers took credit for a cyberattack that left the websites of at least 14 U.S. airports temporarily inaccessible on Monday.
The extent of the hack is unclear, but it appears that the cyberattack failed to disrupt air travel and only created a minor inconvenience for travelers seeking airport information. Kiersten Todt, chief of staff of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), confirmed the attack during a security conference in Sea Island, Georgia, on Monday, according to CNN.
“Obviously, we’re tracking that, and there’s no concern about operations being disrupted,” Todt said.
A senior official familiar with the situation told ABC News – which first reported the cyberattack – that several of the largest airports in the country were targeted. The systems handling air traffic control, internal airline communications and coordination, and transportation security were not impacted.
“It’s an inconvenience,” the source said.
Among the airports targeted was the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Des Moines International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
“Early this morning, the FlyLAX.com website was partially disrupted,” LAX said in a statement. “The service interruption was limited to portions of the public facing FlyLAX.com website only. No internal airport systems were compromised and there were no operational disruptions.”
