This was reported on the 25th, and when I first saw something on it, I assumed it had been mitigated. The Port of Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport say they’ve been hit by ‘possible cyberattack’
When I looked again, it turns out that on the afternoon of the 27th, the most anyone is saying is still that the situation is "indicating a possible cyberattack."
They have posted phone numbers, or in the case of recreational boaters, a VHF channel to hail, but no more info.
The Port of Seattle, which also operates the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said it was hit with a “possible cyberattack” that appeared to affect websites and phone systems.
The port first noted the outages via social media on Saturday morning, with the airport then posting that it had “experienced certain system outages indicating a possible cyberattack.”
The Twitter/X account for the Port of Sea-Tac is instructive, because it shows airlines writing out paper boarding passes, and luggage tags. I wonder how much luggage will get lost. (They are recommending carry-on luggage, but that doesn't always work for everyone.)
Forbes had an update (or a lack of an update) from the morning the the 27th. Seattle-Tacoma Airport Cyberattack Day 4: A User’s Guide For Travelers
When Sea-Tac’s systems will be restored is anybody’s guess. “We’re pretty much where we were previously on that situation,” [Perry Cooper, an airport spokesperson,] said. “There’s currently no estimated time of return.”
The situation is as follows.
The Wi-Fi and phone systems are still down. The departure and arrival boards are dark. The airport’s app is not updating. Baggage sorting is being done by hand. The airport’s lost-and-found tracking system isn’t working. The paid-parking system has also been impacted.
On the one hand, they did some things right.
“We saw some nefarious characters that may have been on our system early in the morning on Saturday, and as we would take precautions for that, we actually turned off our entire system to avoid anything further,” Perry Cooper, an airport spokesperson, told reporters Monday afternoon.
Given the length of time that has elapsed, they have either discovered something bad was happening, or they never bothered to test their recovery procedures, or both. That last is actually a fairly common situation. Testing recovery procedures is not a trivial task, and not free.
Hat tip to Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 26 August 2024: Damnazon Edition
The Port of Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport have been eaten alive by a cyberattack or maybe they're just incompetent. (Tech Crunch)
Late Saturday evening, the airport said it was still experiencing outages: "There is not an estimated time for return and Port teams continue to work to restore full service." It also encouraged travelers to use airline apps to get their boarding passes and bag tags, and to allow extra time to reach their gates.Well, that's definitive.
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