Japan Airlines (JAL) on Thursday suffered a cyber-attack, which disrupted both domestic and international flights. The carrier, which is Japan’s second largest after All Nippon Airways (ANA), reported that 24 domestic flights were delayed by at least half an hour. According to JAL, the problems arose from baggage check-in systems at various airports across Japan.
“The cause of the problem has been identified and resolved. The status of system recovery is also being checked,” JAL wrote on the X platform. In addition, there were suspensions from selling tickets for all domestic and international flights on that particular day.
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The JAL representative confirmed to AFP that the company had been hit by a cyber attack. According to the Japanese media, the attack was believed to be a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack against overwhelming and disorienting a site or server.
Network disruption began at 7.24 am Thursday (2224 GMT Wednesday). JAL isolated the router causing the disruption by 8.56 am. JAL stock price slumped as much as 2.5% in morning trade, recovering marginally later.
Again, as witnessed in a string of local high-profile cyberattacks, this one follows the attack on the space agency JAXA and that of an auto supplier to the giant carmaker Toyota.
Meanwhile, a transport ministry committee looking into a crash disaster in January 2024 whereby a passenger plane belonging to JAL was involved, released on Wednesday, an interim report pinning blame on human error for the tragedy which led to the death of five people. The incident involved a Coast Guard plane bringing relief supplies to an area shaken by a quake. In a jocular mood due to the late take-off, the captain misinterpreted the air traffic control instructions.
Nonetheless, JAL is determined to enhance safety and security measures.