Hacked off passengers stranded, airline hit by ransomware attack

IT woes: Passengers were left for hours on the tarmac following a ransomware attack. Photo / Getty Images

A major Indian airline has blamed a "attempted ransomware attack" for disrupted services that left hundreds of passengers stranded.

On Wednesday customers of SpiceJet airlines reported hour long delays and being stuck on grounded planes.

Irate passengers communicating with the airline were surprised to be told by the Airline that they were recovering from an attempted "ransomware attack" overnight, that was still affecting services.

Despite claims that the situation had been rectified, many passengers continued to report knock-on problems.

Operating normally?? We are stuck here since 3 hrs and 45 mins? Neither cancelling nor operating, sitting in the flight not even the airport. No breakfast, no response! pic.twitter.com/dAfdIjzVzH

— Mudit Shejwar (@mudit_shejwar) May 25, 2022

"We are stuck here since 3 hrs and 45 mins" passenger Mudit Shejwar wrote to twitter, complaining he had received no communication, food or water while waiting on the plane.

Others were shocked to see that ground staff appeared to have left them at the gate.

Cabins full of travellers, including elderly and children, complained that they could not reach customer service numbers, and had been given no reason for the delay.

Hi @flyspicejet we were supposed to depart from IXB at 9 am today and there are still no updates from anyone.
Worst part we boarded the flight and then this update came when the attack was last night and my wife is here with me with fractured leg waiting in vain pic.twitter.com/UBZmxCaWCu

— Himanshu Maheshwari (@himannshum) May 25, 2022

A statement from the airline apologised for the delays, saying that SpiceJet was working with cyber crime authorities to probe the incident.

"While our IT team has to a large extent contained and rectified the situation, this has had a cascading effect on our flights leading to delays," said the spokesperson.

"Some flights to airports where there are restrictions on night operations have been cancelled. SpiceJet is in touch with experts and cyber crime authorities on the issue."

This is the latest of the airline's IT woes.

In January 2020 spiceJet

reported a data breach

that allowed hackers to access the airline's poorly protected servers, reported Business Standard. This gave hackers access to the data of 1,200,000 passengers, including travel information, contacts and dates of birth.

Last week, the Airports Authority of India

suspended credit agreements

with the airline, disrupting several services. The Times of India reported that a problem with SpiceJet's payment systems had left airport dues unpaid.