Pro-Russian Hackers Claim Responsibility For US Airport Websites Attack

Such DDoS attacks are short in duration and typically superficial, says an expert.

LAGOS (CoinChapter.com) — A pro-Russian hacker group has claimed responsibility for temporarily knocking down several United States airport websites, although their actions appeared to have had little effect on flight operations.

In detail, Killnet, the pro-Russian hackers took credit for the attack that impacted the websites of Los Angeles International, Chicago O’Hare, and Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, among others.

The pro-Russian hackers through a Telegram group also called on more hackers to participate in what’s called a DDoS attack. Notably, a DDoS attack is when a computer network is flooded by simultaneous data transmissions and it’s forced to shut down.

Killnet urged other cyberpunks to perpetrate attacks on airports across the country, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, and Connecticut. Other airports mentioned include Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, among others.

Despite the cyber attacks operations of airports in the US remains unchanged. The Chicago Department of Aviation said that although websites for O’Hare International and Midway airports went offline operations weren’t affected.

Similarly, Los Angeles International Airport spokeswoman, Victoria Spilabotte, indicated that the airport website was also disrupted. She, however, noted that no internal airport systems were compromised and there were no operational disruptions.

Additionally, Spilabotte said that the airport has notified the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration. She said the airport’s information-technology team was also working to restore all services and prevent similar attacks from taking place.

Pro-Russian Hackers To Extend Attack To Sea Terminals, Logistics Facilities, Others

Meanwhile, the pro-Russian hackers have stated that the group will continue to carry out attacks across the US. It called on more hackers to join its ranks to ensure operations in the US are crippled.

Killnet hinted that other vulnerable US sites that could also be targeted by similar DDoS strikes include sea terminals and logistics facilities, weather monitoring centers, health care systems, subway systems, exchanges, and online trading systems, among others.

Moreover, the pro-Russian group further thanked a handful of teams they claimed helped push the US airport sites offline. It said:

“Who is participated in the liquidation of the United States of America, Do not stop!!”

It’s worth noting that the attacks come a week after another spate of cyberattacks allegedly launched by the group. The group claimed responsibility for the distributed denial-of-service attacks on state government sites in several states. Notably, the campaigns appear to be coming due to the US involvement in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Such DDoS Attack Are Typically Superficial —Expert

John Hultquist, vice president for threat intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, has pointed out that such a DDoS attack can’t cause much damage.

Hultquist in a tweet explained that DDoS attacks like those aimed at airports and state governments are usually short in duration and typically superficial. He said, “these are not the serious impacts that have kept us awake.”

Additionally, he noted that such attacks instead tend to reveal little attention by webmasters to adequate bulletproofing of sites. He, however, urged government institutions to now includes DDoS protection services in their security operation. Also, on how to protect your token from crypto hackers click here.