Seattle-Tacoma International Airport struck by ‘possible cyberattack’

The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport experienced certain system outages last weekend, indicating it might be the victim of a ‘possible cyberattack’.

On Saturday August 24, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reported that it was experiencing an internet and web systems outage, which impacted some of the airport’s IT systems. To minimize the impact, the airport isolated critical systems and tried to restore all systems to normal working capacity.

The system outages indicate that the airport was possibly hit by cyberattack, the airport says in a message on X.

“We are working closely with appropriate authorities and partners to help travelers who may be impacted. If you are traveling today, please check with our airline partners for travel information and allow extra time to get to SEA and to your gate,” it says in an online statement.

System outages at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport continued on Sunday. According to the aviation company, port teams continue to make progress on returning systems to normal operations, but there is not an estimated time for return.

Passengers are recommended to stick to carry-on luggage if possible, check-in online and get their boarding pass before leaving. They were also advised to take extra time into account to reach the airport and confirm gate details with their airlines.

Officially, the system outages didn’t impact flights. In practice however, people complained that their flight was delayed for several hours. An airport spokesperson told GeekWire that the system outages had no impact on security operations and that passengers were screened using ‘robust procedures’.

“That said, the one area where we are starting to see some impacts is the Port of Seattle’s baggage sorting system, so we are warning guests who are flying out of Seattle to pack light and not check a bag if they don’t have to,” the spokesperson added.

A FBI spokesperson told The Seattle Times it was aware of the incident and is working with partners to determine what happened. He couldn’t say whether the FBI treats the incident as a cyberattack.