[BreachExchange] Two major flight tracking services hit by crippling cyberattacks

[Destry Winant]

https://www.hackread.com/major-flight-tracking-services-hit-cyberattacks/

It is still unclear who is behind these cyberattacks.

Two of the most popular flight tracking websites, Flightradar24 and
PlaneFinder had their service disrupted after consecutively suffering
multiple cyberattacks.

It seems like a well-organized hacking campaign targeting real-time
flight tracking service providers.

Flightradar24 was attacked thrice in two days, whereas PlaneFinder was
attacked multiple times. PlaneFinder took to Twitter to confirm the
news and asked its users to remain patient as they are trying to fix
the issue.

 If you’re having issues accessing Plane Finder this morning, thank
you for your patience. We are working hard to counter the attack we
are under and will bring Plane Finder back to full service as soon as
we can.


Hackread.com can confirm that PlaneFinder users could not access live
feeds as the website was offline around 12:40 PM (GMT) Tuesday.
However, at the time of publishing this article, the service was back
online.

Tweets from Plane Finder (Image: Twitter via Hackread.com)

For your information, Flightradar24 and PlaneFinder allow users to
monitor real-time air traffic at all major airports around the world.

Both platforms are immensely popular among aviation enthusiasts and
travelers worldwide. For instance, both websites have millions of
registered users and thousands of flights are daily tracked through
them.

Flight tracking services also allow users to identify the flight
number, aircraft model, elevation level, destination, distress signal
codes, and the speed at which the aircraft is moving.

In a series of tweets, Flightradar24 stated that after suffering three
cyberattacks, they struggled to resume their service. The website was
back online on Tuesday, but there are complaints of loading issues.

On the other hand, Plane Finder tweeted that its team is still working
hard to fully restore its services.

“There may be issues accessing Plane Finder at the moment. It seems
it’s our turn to have our systems attacked. Our team is working hard
to restore normal service. Please bear with us, we will provide
updates as we have them.”

Launched in 2009, PlaneFinder allows its registered members to share
the MLAT and ADS-B data through the site’s ADS-B Client. The site also
supports VFR charts. It was the first to launch a replay feature in
its flight tracking app to let users replay fights from as far back as
2011.

Although it is unclear why these services were targeted, Hackread.com
has contacted both platforms for their side of the story. Therefore,
this article will be updated based on their response.