Japan Airlines (JAL) announced on Thursday, December 26th, that its systems have been targeted in a cyber attack, potentially affecting both domestic and international flights. Currently, JAL is working to restore its equipment.
The attack on JAL started at 7:24 local time (22:24 GMT), when there was a sudden surge in network traffic on communication equipment used for external communication, disrupting passenger baggage handling, boarding, and other systems.
A spokesperson for JAL told AFP, “We have confirmed that the company has been targeted by hackers and we are actively responding.”
The spokesperson added, “This incident may impact future flight operations, potentially leading to delays or cancellations.”
The company has stated that it has temporarily shut down the routers causing the system malfunction and halted ticket sales for Thursday’s departing flights. JAL is conducting a detailed investigation into the cause of the failure and has mentioned that this incident has “no impact on operational safety.”
As of 11 a.m., 24 domestic flights have been delayed by more than 30 minutes, with some international flights also experiencing delays. However, JAL has confirmed that no flights have been canceled thus far.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to our customers and all relevant parties,” JAL expressed.
Investigators have indicated that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has received inquiries regarding the network attack on JAL. The police are currently verifying the details and suspect that JAL might have fallen victim to a “DDoS attack,” which involves overwhelming a website with a high volume of communication requests.
According to NHK, numerous airports in Japan, including Haneda Airport, Kansai Airport, Osaka Airport, and Fukuoka Airport, have reported flight delays. Flights departing from Haneda Airport have experienced delays of over an hour.
JAL is Japan’s second-largest airline after All Nippon Airways (ANA) and is the latest Japanese company to be targeted in a cyber attack.
In 2022, the Japanese government disclosed that a supplier of Toyota was hit by a cyber attack, leading to a one-day shutdown of the company’s factories in Japan.
Recently, the operator of the popular Japanese video-sharing website Niconico reported that the service was temporarily suspended in June this year due to a large-scale cyber attack.