Cyberattack disrupts flights in Seattle
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Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Operations are slowly returning to normal after a cyberattack disrupted Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's operations over the weekend.
Why it matters: The attack comes during one of the busiest travel weeks of the summer, leading up to Labor Day weekend.
- Passengers have waited hours to do simple tasks like check bags or confirm travel documents for international flights.
- Employees have had limited internet and phone access and haven't been able to send and receive data, including email.
State of play: SEA Airport said it detected unauthorized access on its port system Saturday morning, prompting officials to isolate critical systems.
- Alaska Airlines said Sunday in a post on X that the airport's baggage sorting system was "extremely limited" due to the incident. The airline recommended passengers "avoid checking a bag if possible."
- Flight monitors inside the airport were down, and a message directed passengers to rely on their airline's mobile app for the most up-to-date information.
- Both the airport's website and the Port of Seattle's website appear to still be down as of Tuesday afternoon.
The big picture: The cyberattack is just the latest to cause disruptions across U.S. critical infrastructure in recent weeks.
- Major U.S. oilfield services firm Halliburton experienced a cyberattack last week that disrupted business operations.
- McLaren Health Care, a health system in Michigan, is currently battling its second ransomware attack in a year.
Between the lines: This weekend's cyber incident was just the latest to cause disruptions at major airports, following the global CrowdStrike outage that crippled Delta and other airlines last month.
What we're watching: Officials are still investigating what kind of attack this was and who may have been behind it.
- It's also unclear how long it will take operations to return to normal.
