A technical problem at Sunwing Airlines, which continues to ground flights, is accused of violating data security in the company’s third-party provider.
“A system that works and works all the time, that never fails, has been hacked,” said Sunwing President Mark Williams. “They had a cyber breakthrough and failed to pick up the system.
As a result, the company is forced to check in passengers manually, causing significant delays at airports in Canada as well as in sunny destinations.
“It was delayed eight times,” said a woman at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. “They moved us to three hotels.”
Aviation authorities in Canada and the United States want to ensure that the system provided by Airline Choice is secure before reactivating.
In a statement emailed to Canadian Press on Wednesday, Airline Choice described the breach as a “data security event” that affected a limited number of its computer systems.
“As a precaution, we have taken certain systems offline to protect our environment. We also immediately launched an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the event, “the company said.
Neither Airline Choice nor Sunwing are able to provide any timeline as to when the system will be backed up and running. Sunwing says it is working with other airlines to procure additional aircraft and help ease some of the lag at airports.
Cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak says the incident is an example of why companies need to have a contingency plan when it comes to the technology they rely on.
“What happens when the lights go out,” he said. “How do you ensure that you have business continuity and ensure that your processes are safe and secure and that the business can actually continue?”
Airline Choice said it has begun restoring some of the functionality of its systems and is working around the clock to restore services to its customers, which include dozens of airlines and cargo companies around the world.
But aviation expert John Gradek says Sunwing is as guilty as the third party of what has happened in the past three days.
“You have to make sure that as a buyer you are checking the capabilities and functionality of what you are buying,” he said. “This includes understanding what precautions are in place to ensure that these types of attacks are mitigated. It just seems like our Sunwing friends just weren’t prepared.
Cyber threats are something companies need to constantly prepare for, Gradek said.
“The question is not whether you will be hacked,” he said. “The question is when. And any e-commerce organization will be hacked at some point.
Sunwing has promised to compensate all passengers who are more than three hours late. They also allow passengers flying between 19 April and 22 April to change their travel dates without penalty, but they must travel until 23 June 2022.
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