Source: Cyber News. Article by Mantas Sabeckis
This past weekend, millions of travelers faced a modern nightmare: delays, cancellations, and chaos at some of Europe’s busiest airports – Heathrow, Brussels, Berlin – triggered by a ransomware attack on Collins Aerospace’s check-in and boarding software. It’s very much the reality of today’s hyperconnected infrastructure.
This shows how hidden cyber risks can be. It also shows how unprepared many important systems are for these kinds of threats.
This also shows how the vulnerability of supply chains can put businesses in trouble. Collins Aerospace isn’t an airport or airline but a software vendor, a third-party provider whose systems connect together vast and complex air travel operations.
This sort of third-party risk is increasingly a preferred target for ransomware gangs. A flaw in one vendor’s software can cascade through the global transportation ecosystem, unleashing disruption across an entire continent.
The lesson here is that just making your own computers and firewalls stronger isn’t enough. Real protection means keeping a close eye on every part of your supply chain. Are vendors’ security practices robust? Do contracts demand transparent vulnerability disclosure? Is patch management swift and audited? Those questions are foundational.
Then, there’s the often-overlooked fallback mode: manual operations. This hack blew up the digital convenience airports pride themselves on: automated check-ins, seamless boarding. The reversion to handwritten boarding passes and paper manifests was crude but necessary.
Investing in these manual backups and making sure staff are trained to execute them under pressure is as essential as any other security measure. In the race to digitize, this old-school readiness often gets pushed aside, until it becomes a lifeline.
Experts are trying to find out who’s responsible. Terror law watchdog Jonathan Hall KC says it’s possible state-sponsored hackers could be behind the attack. Places like Heathrow in the UK are quite obvious targets during big political and economic tensions. Figuring out who’s behind attacks like this is always tough, but it shows that important systems like airports are now key targets in global cyber battles.
This incident shows that being ready for cyberattacks isn’t just about building stronger defenses. It means taking care of the entire system – making sure every part, including suppliers, is secure, planning for the worst, and having backup plans that keep important services running no matter what.
The aviation sector might be racing toward a more automated future, but we have to keep in mind that the digital runway isn’t invincible, and resilience must be built in from the ground up.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mantas Sabeckis is a security researcher at Cybernews, specializing in identifying data leaks, detecting vulnerabilities, and enhancing the security of AI systems. With a strong commitment to responsible disclosure, he collaborates with both large corporations and small organizations to help them address security issues before they can be exploited. Mantas’s work centers on understanding how sensitive data is exposed and sharing insights that contribute to stronger cybersecurity practices. His mission is clear: to make the internet a safer place for everyone by advancing research, promoting responsible security measures, and supporting initiatives that protect digital ecosystems.
ABOUT CYBERNEWS
Cybernews is a globally recognized independent media outlet where journalists and security experts debunk cyber by research, testing, and data. Founded in 2019 in response to rising concerns about online security, the site covers breaking news, conducts original investigations, and offers unique perspectives on the evolving digital security landscape. Through white-hat investigative techniques, Cybernews research team identifies and safely discloses cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, while the editorial team provides cybersecurity-related news, analysis, and opinions by industry insiders with complete independence. For more, visit www.cybernews.com.
Cybernews has earned worldwide attention for its high-impact research and discoveries, which have uncovered some of the internet’s most significant security exposures and data leaks. Notable ones include:
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Cybernews researchers discovered multiple open datasets comprising 16 billion login credentials from infostealer malware, social media, developer portals, and corporate networks – highlighting the unprecedented risks of account takeovers, phishing, and business email compromise.
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Cybernews researchers analyzed 156,080 randomly selected iOS apps – around 8% of the apps present on the App Store – and uncovered a massive oversight: 71% of them expose sensitive data.
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Bob Dyachenko, a cybersecurity researcher and owner of SecurityDiscovery.com, and the Cybernews security research team discovered an unprotected Elasticsearch index, which contained a wide range of sensitive personal details related to the entire population of Georgia.
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The team analyzed the new Pixel 9 Pro XL smartphone’s web traffic, and found that Google’s latest flagship smartphone frequently transmits private user data to the tech giant before any app is installed.
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The team revealed that a massive data leak at MC2 Data, a background check firm, affects one-third of the US population.
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The Cybernews security research team discovered that 50 most popular Android apps require 11 dangerous permissions on average.
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They revealed that two online PDF makers leaked tens of thousands of user documents, including passports, driving licenses, certificates, and other personal information uploaded by users.
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An analysis by Cybernews research discovered over a million publicly exposed secrets from over 58 thousand websites’ exposed environment (.env) files.
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The team revealed that Australia’s football governing body, Football Australia, has leaked secret keys potentially opening access to 127 buckets of data, including ticket buyers’ personal data and players’ contracts and documents.
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The Cybernews research team, in collaboration with cybersecurity researcher Bob Dyachenko, discovered a massive data leak containing information from numerous past breaches, comprising 12 terabytes of data and spanning over 26 billion records.
