The next big thing

If some of Asia’s airlines think they are immune from cyberattack by computer hackers they need to think again. The latest victims were state-owned Vietnam Airlines (VNA) and the country’s two major airports, Hanoi’s Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat.

In the case of the airline hackers they apparently gained access to the personal data of over 400,000 members of its frequent flyers club, Golden Lotus. Vietnamese banks had to suspend the use of credit cards to make online payments following the attack.

At the airports the hackers, apparently from a Chinese group called 1937cn (known as the most notorious hacking group in China, credited with over 40,000 attacks worldwide), took control of flight information display screens and broadcast messages insulting Vietnam and the Philippines regarding the ongoing dispute over China’s claims to islands in the South China Sea (called the East Sea in Vietnam). Airport speakers were also hijacked and a male voice broadcast in English that the East Sea belonged to China. (At least airport security forces soon regained control of the screens and speaker system. ) While the airport attack obviously involved political motivation, the Vietnam Airlines intrusion was far more serious from an industry point of view. Gaining access to frequent flyer data could cause untold damage. Imagine if hackers tapped into the detail of Qantas’s more than five million FF customers and their credit card information.

VNA had to advise customers to change their account passwords and temporarily suspend online services.

But the peril doesn’t end there. Airlines and airports are so reliant on computers their systems are inter-related. And they are connected to a host of other players, such as air traffic control or various service suppliers.

The damage that could be done in a cyberattack is almost unimaginable. Check-in could come to a halt. Air traffic control could be put out of action. Baggage systems could run amok. And of course, given the nature of global aviation, any cyberattack in one location would have a domino effect elsewhere. Indeed, the hack at airports in Vietnam caused some 100 flights to be delayed by up to two hours because it also interrupted the electronic check-in systems.

And VNA isn’t the only airline that has suffered an attack in the region. Philippine Airlines was also hit some time back, though it actually did little damage. It should be noted that it’s probably no surprise that Vietnam’s aviation industry has finally been the victim of cyberattack. According to the international internet security firm Kaspersky, the country is among the nations to suffer the most malware attacks and is number one in the world when it comes to spreading viruses through external devices such as USBs, memory cards, and mobile hard disk drives. Some 71 per cent of all computers in Vietnam are infected and last year 10,000 websites were hacked, an increase of 68 per cent from 2014, including 224 government websites.

It’s a worry and Vietnam is by no means alone when it comes to poor defences against cyberattack. The issue has become a major topic at airline conferences, including the International Air Transport Association’s annual talkfest at Dublin in June. There, several security experts warned carriers it wasn’t “if” they would suffer an attack but “when”. Indeed, it is known that several airlines in Asia have been targets of cyber intrusions.

The problem is, most of them don’t want to talk about it publicly for fear of drawing attention to the issue or admitting their computer security isn’t up to scratch. IATA and other aviation bodies say it is absolutely vital that some sort of system is set up to allow airlines, airports and aviation industry providers to communicate and share information on cyberattack incidents.

Japan Airlines chairman Masaru Onishi told this writer airlines actually need to employ hackers – or dark forces – to test their defences. And their IT departments need to be on constant lookout for any signs of intrusion. Cathay Pacific chairman John Slosar said recently that big data is the next big thing for airlines and carriers who aren’t spending big money on it will lose out.

But it’s frightening to think that when big data is really part and parcel of the airline business, when all sorts of information about customers and the corporate workings of the business are sitting there behind a firewall, how tempting it will be for hackers and criminals to try and gain access.

The damage that could be done in a cyberattack is almost unimaginable.