JAPAN AIRLINES FACES CYBER ATTACK

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JAPAN AIRLINES FACES CYBER ATTACK

Microsoft outage in July 2024 brought the world to its knees and luckily it was not a hack. That could have made it worse. It was caused by CrowdStrike at the backend and impacted 8.5 million devices globally. Though the impact may be the same yet hacks, breaches or cyber attacks fall in totally different categories. Hack has an adversary and that too a very tricky one and mostly technically more competent and devious, which become a big challenge to bring back normalcy to the systems. Given this scenario, resilience is the operational buzzword and practice for IT systems, otherwise it is not even worth establishing it.

Getting hacked is the new normal has turned out to be a truism over the years. The question is not whether you would be hacked or not, but when you will get hacked. The reigning mode of attack remains ransomware consistently over the years, being executed by both state and non-state actors and many times a combination of the two. Governments happen to be the most targeted sector, given the expanse and the impact which the hacker or the ransomware gang can make. It is followed by BFSI, where the money lies and is transacted upon. Critical infrastructure remains the main target for a variety of reasons and hence after the financial services, transportation infrastructure is not very far behind.

The recent attack on Japan Airlines has to be looked into, with this backdrop in mind. Additionally, Japanese corporations are also under attack. The second largest airline in Japan, the Japan Airlines suffered a significant cyber attack on Thursday morning. It impacted both the internal and external systems and the communication with external networks. The airline has confirmed the attack. This attack is the most recent one in the chain of high profile cyber attacks the country has been facing. In 2022 disruption of Toyota’s supply chain was attributed to a cyber attack, where the automaker had to halt production for an entire day. Japanese video-sharing platform Niconico had to suspend its services after a cyber attack in June 2024.

On the transportation infrastructure side, earlier this year, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) faced significant delays due to a suspected cyberattack. Transportation infrastructure remains high on the hackers radar. The JAL cyberattack underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to digital threats. The investigations are underway, while we all await for its findings. What has now turned out to be a must is the urgent need for strengthened cybersecurity measures in industries vital to public services and national economies.

THE INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE BEHIND THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS IN THE EYE OF THE STORM.
Sanjay Sahay

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