Brussels Airport Cybersecurity Incident Shuts Down European Airports - 2025 Crisis Deepens

CYBERATTACK GRINDS EUROPEAN TRAVEL TO A HALT

Brussels Airport's digital infrastructure buckled under a sophisticated cybersecurity breach—cascading disruptions across continental travel hubs. The incident exposed critical vulnerabilities in aviation network security, forcing ground stops and passenger chaos.

OPERATIONAL COLLAPSE ACROSS MAJOR HUBS

Flight tracking systems faltered first—then baggage handling tech crashed. Airport authorities scrambled manual protocols while cybersecurity teams raced against encrypted systems. No passenger data compromised, but the financial toll mounts by the hour.

FINANCIAL FALLOUT AND MARKET JITTERS

Airline stocks dipped as travel insurers recalculated risk models—because nothing makes traditional finance sweat like unexpected systemic risk they can't hedge with derivatives. Meanwhile, blockchain-based systems continue operating without interruption, proving yet again that decentralized infrastructure laughs at centralized points of failure.

Flights have been canceled

Brussels Airport said on its website that the incident had occurred on Friday night. According to them, the attack has stopped all automatic systems from working, allowing only manual check-in and boarding procedures.

The airport also said that 10 flights had been canceled so far, with an average delay of one hour for all departing flights. It added, “This has a large impact on the flight schedule and will unfortunately cause delays and cancellations of flights…The service provider is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.”

In addition, Berlin Airport said in a banner on its website, “Due to a technical issue at a system provider operating across Europe, there are longer waiting times at check-in. We are working on a quick solution.” 

On the other hand, a spokesperson said that Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s largest, was not affected. An official from the operations control center at Zurich Airport also said it had not been impacted.

Delta Air Lines also said it expected minimal impact on flights departing from the three affected airports, adding that it had implemented a workaround to minimise disruption. Among Europe’s biggest airlines, EasyJet said it was operating normally and did not expect the issue to impact its flights for the rest of the day.

Collins Aerospace’s parent RTX said it had become aware of a “cyber-related disruption” to its software in select airports. “The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations,” RTX said.

Meanwhile, passengers on a flight scheduled for Saturday were advised by the affected airports to confirm their travel with airlines before heading to the airport.

Airports’ vulnerabilities to cyberattacks

A centralized system hack, affecting multiple airports at once through a shared vendor, is likely to blame for the interruption. The infrastructure used by client airports is either cloud-based or networked. There has been no confirmation of a particular ransomware organization or attribution.

So far, the events of 2025 have proved one thing beyond doubt: aviation is firmly in the crosshairs of cyber adversaries.  In late June 2025, Qantas Airways detected unauthorized activity on a third-party platform used by its contact center. The airline confirmed the breach in early July and stated that the attack shared similarities with intrusions linked to the Scattered Spider group.

Qantas updated its disclosure and confirmed that the personal data of approximately 5.7 million customers was exposed. Around 4 million records, including names, email addresses, and Frequent Flyer details, come with tier level, points balance, and status credits. The remaining 1.7 million included combinations of addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, gender, and meal preferences.

In the same month, WestJet Airlines experienced a cyber incident that disrupted parts of its digital infrastructure. Hawaiian Airlines also confirmed it was affected by a cybersecurity incident. However, neither reports any risk to flight safety.

Many hacking gangs are headquartered in Russia or other former Soviet countries, some of which are thought to have ties to the Russian state. But there have been plenty of arrests elsewhere. British and American teenagers are accused of recent large cyber-attacks against Las Vegas casinos, M&S, Co-op, and Transport for London.

Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.