Pro-Russian hackers Killnet aim attack at US airport websites

YARMOUTH, Maine – Websites and other public facing infrastructure for at least 13 U.S. airports came under attack from Russian hackers on Oct. 10, 2022.

Responsibility for the airport security attacks was claimed by the Pro-Russian group Killnet, as retaliation for the United States ongoing support for Ukraine in Russia’s current war of aggression against its smaller neighbor. Killnet similarly attacked the websites for several U.S. state last week however no lasting damage was done in both cases and various airports reported that the attack mostly brought down websites and did not affect flight schedules. Those affected included Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, but service to those websites was restored a short while later.

Russian state media propagated a video of Killnet founder, Killmilk, stating among other things, that the US was responsible for the creation and distribution of the COVID-19 virus and that they were preparing to release what they called “Proof” of American involvement. The group also called on others to perpetrate similar attacks on American infrastructure.

 At the time of this writing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) had not yet released a public statement regarding the attacks but had in comments with other news organizations made it clear they were aware of it and keeping an eye on the situation. Late last week the CISA also released a PSA warning about likely foreign actors participating in misinformation tactics with the upcoming US elections.

These cyber attacks come right as missiles landed across several locations in Ukraine this morning as apparent retaliation against the bombing of a bridge in Crimea on Saturday.