More than two days after the Port of Seattle identified a potential cyberattack, an outage continues to impact operations at Sea-Tac Airport and other Port-affiliated entities.
Port officials haven’t discussed details of the attack and there’s no estimate time for return.
“We saw some nefarious characters that may have been on our system early in the morning on Saturday,” Perry Cooper, senior media relations manager for the Port of Seattle, said at a press conference Monday. “We actually turned off our entire system to avoid anything further.”
The outage is not impacting security screenings at Sea-Tac Airport and there were just seven flight cancellations Monday.
However, in-airport WiFi is not working, baggage services are disrupted, and some airlines are providing manual bag tags. Many TV screens showing flight info and security line wait times are blacked out.
Cruise travel is not impacted, but the port’s Maritime Facilities phone systems were down. Email and phone services for Port staff were also down, and the Port of Seattle website is inaccessible.
The Port is providing updates at this webpage.
Here’s what else you need to know about the outage.
What happened?
The Port first reported the outage Saturday morning just after 9 a.m. PT, describing it as an “internet and web systems outage.” A few hours later, Sea-Tac Airport said the outage was due to a “possible cyberattack.”
Beyond that, it’s not clear who is behind the attack or how they accessed the Port’s technical infrastructure.
“We’re still working on analysis and recovery at this point, and hope to learn more in the future,” Cooper said.
Is TSA impacted?
No. The Transportation Security Administration runs on its own dedicated network, and was not impacted by the outage. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its systems were not impacted.
I’m flying through Sea-Tac Airport. What should I know?
Airport officials suggest sticking to carry on. If you have to check luggage, try to arrive early — especially if you’re flying Frontier, Spirit, Sun Country, JetBlue, and international airlines.
Those airlines use common check-in space and rely on the Port’s technical infrastructure for checking in bags, which is why they are more impacted by the outage.
Some international carriers are bringing in their own technical equipment to help the get through the outage, Cooper said.
What else is impacted at the airport?
The airport’s baggage conveyor belt system is also affected, which can cause delays in getting luggage to the right plane, Cooper said.
The airport’s lost and found center is closed, and its SEA Visitor Pass Program is not working.
The airport’s car parking system is also affected.
TSA said all passengers are verified by its own secure system and are then issued boarding passes.
When will the outage be fixed?
Officials haven’t talked about the severity of the incident, or when they expect things to be back and running. The Port is working with the FBI and other partners on the investigation.
Didn’t Sea-Tac Airport just have an outage?
Yes. Last month, a flawed update from cybersecurity software company CrowdStrike caused a global IT disruption, including at Sea-Tac and airports across the country.
But that outage was not caused by a cyberattack.
What makes a Port or an airport an attractive target for hackers?
There is heightened concern about cyber threats to ports and other critical infrastructure, according to cybersecurity experts we interviewed. The hackers are typically criminal enterprises and nation-states. The data within port infrastructure can be valuable — passenger information, cargo manifests, etc. — and can be sold on the “dark web” for a large profit. In ransomware attacks, targets are often forced to pay ransoms.
The Biden Administration in February issued an executive order to bolster the security of maritime critical infrastructure.
What’s next?
The Port is providing updates at this webpage and its social media accounts, including @flySEA and @PortofSeattle.
We’ve reached out to The Northwest Seaport Alliance to learn more about impact to maritime operations.
The Port provided phone numbers to call for urgent martime-related matters:
- Recreational boating at (206) 601-4089 or VHF Channel 17
- Fishermen’s Terminal at (206) 617-4898
- Bell Harbor at (206) 462-9567
- Marine Maintenance at (206) 556-1678
- For Terminal 91 operations, call (206) 605-8152. If the call is not answered, leave a voicemail and then call the number again within 5 minutes.
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