A man has been arrested in relation to the cyber attack which crippled operations at Heathrow Airport and other European transport hubs.
The man, in his 40s, was detained in West Sussex, the National Crime Agency said, on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences and has been released on conditional bail, the National Crime Agency said.
Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: ‘Although this arrest is a positive step, the investigation into this incident is in its early stages and remains ongoing.
‘Cybercrime is a persistent global threat that continues to cause significant disruption to the UK. Alongside our partners here and overseas, the NCA is committed to reducing that threat in order to protect the British public.’
Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin airports experienced delays and disruption this weekend after a ‘technical issue’ affected Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at multiple airports.
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The disruption began on Friday night and continued throughout Saturday, with flights cancelled or delayed as impacted airlines were forced to carry out check-in operations manually.
Passengers due to fly from Heathrow Terminal 4 said they were met with queues, delays and confusion as to whether they’d be able to make their planned trips.
Professor Alan Woodward, visiting professor of computing at the University of Surrey, said the lack of transparency around the incident implied the system had been targeted by criminals or possibly state actors.
He told Metro: ‘Criminals do these things for money. They’re in their networks and they’re saying we could close down all sorts of parts of your network unless you pay us.
‘This was a tester.’
He added that a lesson taken from previous cyber attacks affecting large firms, from Jaguar Land Rover to Marks and Spencer, was ‘be open and honest and transparent as you can and as often as you can’.
Who are Collins Aerospace, the target of the attack?
Collins Aerospace provides many of the systems vital for getting you on your journey and your plane in the air.
It provides a range of services, from ground handling software to technology onboard aircraft.
The cyber issue on Saturday related to its check-in and boarding software, known as Muse.
Muse (which stands for Multi-user System Environment) is a system used by airlines at shared check-in desks, bag drop kiosks and boarding gates.
Though this weekend’s disruption affected Europe the most, the disruption began in America, when an air traffic outage brought flights across the US to a standstill. It’s unclear if the man arrested was involved in those outages.
A telecommunications failure saw air traffic controllers at two major US airports lose radar and some communications on Friday, resulting in thousands of planes grounded.
The outage at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, both in Texas, had a knock-on effect across America, causing delays and cancellations in 20 other US airspaces – including those serving Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, New York, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C.
Two major airports were closed on Friday, with travellers in Canada also experiencing a knock-on effect.
Hours later, part of Dublin Airport was evacuated due to safety concerns, with huge crowds seen gathering outside Terminal 2.
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