Hackers cause airport chaos

A CYBER attack on Bristol Airport caused chaos at the weekend, with staff forced to write flight times on whiteboards and flipcharts after boarding screens went blank.

The fault, which began on Friday evening, was blamed on hackers launching a ‘ransomware’ attack in which criminals infect an IT system with a virus before demanding payment to remove it.

Bosses insisted that no ransom had been paid and flights were unaffected.

A spokesman said the airport took flight screens offline to stop any virus spreading to critical systems, adding: ‘Indications are that this was a speculative attempt rather than a targeted attack.’

However, only some of the screens were working again last night. Many passengers praised the airport, with Aled Williams tweeting: ‘Incredibly well organised and communicated by the staff despite how busy the airport is!’