American cybersecurity stocksincluding Crowdstrike Holdings Inc CRWD, Zscaler Inc ZS, Fortinet Inc FTNTand Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW are devastated on Monday at the news that cyberattacks from the Russian Federation have targeted some of the largest airports in the US
What happened: “Killnet,” a pro-Russian hacker group, is said to be behind the attacks, which affected the websites of Des Moines International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, among others, according to ABC News Source.
Important to note – the targeted attacks have no impact on air traffic control, internal airline communications and coordination, or transport security.
Corresponding John HultquistHead of intelligence analysis at a cybersecurity firm MandianThere is no evidence that the Russian government was behind the attack, although Killnet-like organizations have been exposed as fronts for state-sponsored hackers.
“It’s an inconvenience,” the source said. The attacks have resulted in a targeted denial of public access to web domains that report airport wait times and congestion – essentially the websites of major international airports are down.
Why it matters: The denial-of-service attack affected more than a dozen airport websites, according to Hultquist. These types of attacks essentially overload websites by flooding them with fake users.
The attacks were therefore initially made public ABCat approximately 3:00 a.m. ET, when the Port Authority notified the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that LaGuardia Airport’s system had been attacked.
Killnet, the group believed to be responsible for the attack, has been active in Ukraine since the war began, targeting Ukrainian allies and recently claiming responsibility for the fall of…
