Failure of UK air traffic control computer systems
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August 26, 2023
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Sources
- Government can’t rule out cyber attack caused air traffic chaos - iNews, August 28, 2023
- NATS said that the failure was the result of a “technical issue” but has given no detail of its root cause. A UK intelligence source who formerly worked at GCHQ told i it was “a good working assumption” that the issues stemmed from a hack.
- UK flights disrupted by 'technical issue' with air traffic computer system - The Register, August 28, 2023
- UK air traffic control meltdown: days of disruption ahead — as it happened - The Times, August 28, 2023
- Air Traffic Control system update Statement from NATS CEO Martin Rolfe - August 29, 2023
- “Initial investigations into the problem show it relates to some of the flight data we received. Our systems, both primary and the back-ups, responded by suspending automatic processing to ensure that no incorrect safety-related information could be presented to an air traffic controller or impact the rest of the air traffic system. There are no indications that this was a cyber-attack.
- ‘Not if, but when’: how cyberattacks threaten UK air traffic control - Shawn Johnson, August 29, 2023 The Telegraph
- More travel chaos after 300,000 hit by cancellations – and French error blamed for air traffic mayhem - The Independent, August 29, 2023
- Several sources say the issue may have been caused when a French airline filed a dodgy flight plan that made no digital sense. Instead of the error being rejected, it prompted a shutdown of the entire Nats system – raising questions over how one clerical error could cause such mayhem.
- Airlines call for compensation reform after ‘staggering’ air chaos revelation - The Guardian, August 30, 2023
- Nats, which controls UK airspace, said “an unusual piece of data” had caused the unprecedented system failure on Monday,...Walsh said it was a “staggering” explanation. He told the BBC: “If that is true, it demonstrates a considerable weakness.”
- UK air traffic woes caused by 'invalid flight plan data' - The Register, August 30, 2023
- You'd might be thinking the system and its operators would reject malformed or incorrect input, and continue on as normal without drama. The Register understands that invalid flight plan messages submitted to the Flight Plan Processing System are automatically detected and collect in the invalid queue. At this point, we understand, air traffic control staff have responsibility for processing the invalid entries by manually correcting them in a first come, first served basis, suggesting that such issues are not uncommon. It is conceivable that the problems seen on Monday may stem from human error when attempting to correct an invalid flight plan message. We asked NATS if this might be the case, but we did not receive an answer.
- Flight plan glitch to blame for air traffic meltdown - Neal Baldwin, Travel Gossip, August 30, 2023
- Despite the reassurances, the whole incident has led IT experts to question why the system can be brought down simply by badly formatted information, suggesting that it runs on ageing technology
Recent change in UK Govt Policy
- Don’t say hostile state, Foreign Office tells staff - The Times, August 21, 2023
- UK officials banned from calling Russia and China 'hostile states' - The Times - RT, August 22, 2022
- Fury as Foreign Office issues 'pathetic' guidance on referring to China and Russia - Daily Express, August 2022, 2023
- Government documents, including the 2021 integrated review of the UK’s security, defence and foreign policy, have been edited to replace the phrase "hostile states" with "hostile actors". A source said the Foreign Office advised officials to stop using the term due to advice that it was legally ambiguous, with "hostile actors” giving the Government better “legal grounding”. A Government spokesman said: “The integrated review refresh uses a range of terms to describe the activities of state and non-state actors, including ‘state threats’. "This terminology is agreed across government and is widely used by our allies.
- UK Foreign Office recommends “hostile actors” phrase over “hostile state” - Voice of Europe, August 22, 2023
- While the initial motivation behind this change was to foster better diplomatic ties with China, the implication extends to Russia, North Korea, and Iran as well.