Dublin Airport disruption continues into third day after cyber-attack
Terminal 2 is still being affected after a cyber-attack and security alert over the weekend
- Published
There is a third day of disruption at Dublin Airport as officials continue to deal with the aftermath of a cyber-attack that knocked out check-in and baggage systems.
Terminal 2 is facing disruption as some airlines are using "manual workarounds" to issue bag tags and boarding passes, a spokesman from Dublin Airport said, and warned that check-ins may take longer than usual and passengers should allow extra time on arrival.
Graeme McQueen said the team is continuing to support airlines on Monday as it manages ongoing disruption "from the Europe-wide technical issue", but said they "don't have a timeframe yet" for fixing the issue.
Airlines in Terminal 1 are operating normally.
On Sunday, IT experts from the US flew into Dublin to check the systems.
The Europe-wide technical issue was caused by criminals using ransomware to create chaos in airports around the world.
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, confirmed to Reuters on Monday that the malicious software was used to scramble automatic check-in systems.
Baggage drop and check-in advice
Aer Lingus said on Sunday evening that flights would continue being affected on Monday and advised customers to check in online and bring their boarding card with them, via phone or printed out.
It added that those with a 10kg bag can proceed to their gate and their bag will be checked in there, and for 20kg bags passengers should use the airlines bag tag and drop kiosks.
Mr McQueen said some queues for Aer Lingus passengers in Terminal 2 have been "30, 40 minutes long at times".
"This malware has affected the servers in the terminal so we are having to rebuild the servers by scratch," he said.
On Saturday, Terminal 2 was evacuated following a security alert but was later given the "all-clear"
RTX, which owns software provider Collins Aerospace, said it was "aware of a cyber-related disruption" to its system in "select airports" and that it hoped to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
It identified its Muse software - which allows different airlines to use the same check-in desks and boarding gates at an airport, rather than requiring their own - as the system that had been affected.
The company has yet to disclose what went wrong or how long it expects the outage to last.
On Saturday, Terminal 2 was evacuated following a security alert but was later given the "all-clear".
The evacuation was a "precautionary measure" after police were alerted to a suspicious item of airline luggage at about 11:30 local time (11:30 BST).
Gardaà (Irish police) were assisted by the Irish army's explosive disposal team.
Ciaran Martin, the former head of the National Cyber Security Centre, told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme disruptions can take "days to recover".
He added that it was unwise to speculate about who was responsible for the cyber-attack, as there have been multiple attacks in recent months.
"Sometimes when it's criminals they will often demand a ransom to unlock the systems and they will often publicise that, but that hasn't happened yet."