Japan Airlines announced on Thursday that it had been targeted by a cyberattack, which could potentially affect both domestic and international flights. However, the airline later confirmed that it had identified the issue and taken steps to resolve it.
Japan Airlines (JAL), the country’s second-largest airline after All Nippon Airways (ANA), experienced delays in at least nine domestic flights, according to local reports.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, JAL assured, “We have identified the issue and successfully resolved it. We are currently monitoring the status of the system recovery.”
In an update, Japan Airlines (JAL) announced that sales for both domestic and international flights departing on Thursday had been suspended. The airline expressed its apologies for any inconvenience caused by the disruption.
Earlier in the day, a JAL spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that the airline had fallen victim to a cyberattack and cautioned that there could be delays and cancellations as a result of the incident.
Japan Airlines (JAL) reported network issues starting at 7:24 a.m. On Thursday at 7:24 AM local time (2224 GMT on Wednesday), the issue emerged, potentially impacting both domestic and international flights. However, by 8:56 a.m., the airline confirmed it had identified and resolved the cause of the problem.
JAL is the most recent addition to a growing list of Japanese companies that have been targeted by cyberattacks. In 2023, Japan’s space agency JAXA revealed it had been likely breached by unknown cybercriminals, though no sensitive rocket or satellite information was compromised. In the same year, Nagoya Port, one of Japan’s busiest ports, was paralyzed by a ransomware attack linked to the Russian-based Lockbit cybercrime group.
Japan’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC), responsible for protecting the country’s digital infrastructure, was also reportedly hacked in 2023, with the breach lasting up to nine months.
In 2022, a cyberattack on a supplier to Toyota led to a halt in production at several of the company’s domestic plants. Earlier this year, in June, the well-known Japanese video-sharing site Niconico was forced to suspend its services after being targeted by a major cyberattack.
