A cyber attack has recently caused disruption to the air traffic monitoring operations of the European Union Agency for Aviation Safety (EASA, European Aviation Safety Agency). According to rumors, relaunched by the US press, these would be operations conducted by pro-Russian hacker groups. Meanwhile, European officials reassure: the systems are stable and aviation safety has not been affected.

Last week's attack underscores the limited impact such offensives have on modern computer systems. However, violation attempts are becoming more and more frequent, even if insiders report that the methodologies used are not too sophisticated.

Also affected by the attack was Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental agency which, together with the national civil aviation authorities, guarantees the efficiency of the air traffic control system at continental level, which suffered for days from interruptions at the operation of its computer systems. But also some smaller airlines, which use older technologies, including the Telefaxera back-up system, to manage flight schedules.