Seattle-Tacoma Airport's Operations Disrupted By Cyberattack: Here's What To Know If You Are Travelling

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is currently grappling with a cyberattack that happened during the weekend and has disrupted its internet, phone, email, and other systems

What Happened: The Port of Seattle, which operates the airport, is working relentlessly to restore the affected services. “We’re working around the clock to get necessary systems back online and to mitigate impacts to our passengers,” said Lance Lyttle, the airport's aviation managing director, AP News reported on Monday.

The airport is investigating the incident with the help of external experts and federal partners, including the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection. The full extent of the outage has not been disclosed, but it has not impacted TSA’s passenger screening capabilities.

On Monday, Senior Media Officer Perry Cooper addressed the SEA Airport System outage along with Greg Hawko with the TSA.

Cooper urged travelers to consult their airline for flight and baggage details as the SEA Airport apps and website were not providing this information at the time. Airlines such as Frontier, Spirit, Sun Country, and international airlines were especially affected, with passengers advised to arrive at least three hours early.

Cooper also pointed out that certain services, like the SEA visitor pass and airport lost and found, were not accessible. Although checkpoint wait times were not being displayed on screens, Cooper assured that the lines were manageable. He recommended passengers opt for carry-on luggage if possible and adhere to standard TSA packing guidelines.

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While some airlines, such as Delta and Alaska Airlines, reported no service interruptions, the outage did affect the Port of Seattle's baggage sorting system. This has led to airlines advising passengers to avoid checking bags where possible to prevent potential delays.

Travelers have been advised to allow extra time at the airport and to use airline mobile applications for boarding passes and bag tags. Despite these measures, many travelers have faced longer than usual security lines and waits at baggage claims and check-ins.

Why It Matters: This incident is the latest in a string of cyberattacks that have disrupted various sectors. In June, Advanced Micro Devices and Snowflake Inc. were targeted by hackers. Later that month, a cyberattack on CDK Global’s platform led to widespread outages at car dealerships across the U.S.

In July, a Microsoft Corp. cloud service disruption grounded flights and affected the operations of several airlines across the country and beyond. In August, concerns about the security of the upcoming elections rose after Donald Trump's presidential campaign fell victim to a cyberattack.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari