Major Aerospace Cyberattack Underscores Need for Increased Third-Party Security

A ransomware attack on a major aerospace company has rippled across Europe’s aviation industry, grounding flights and delaying passengers at airports from Brussels to London Heathrow. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed the arrest of a man in connection with the incident, though investigators stressed the probe remains in its early stages. The company disclosed in a regulatory filing that ransomware had crippled its airline check-in software, forcing carriers to fall back on manual processes.

The disruption is part of a growing trend: as outsourcing accelerates and airline operations become more reliant on third parties and contractors, traditional vendor risk management strategies are showing their limits. According to Imprivata research, 47% of organisations reported a third-party breach in the past year, and more than a third traced the cause to vendors with excessive privileged access. Each related breach carried an average cost of £66,000—a figure that, in aviation, multiplies quickly when you factor in stranded travelers, missed connections, and reputational damage.

This ransomware incident is a reminder of how connected aviation really is, and the direct impact to the public when an incident occurs. When a critical partner is compromised, the impact isn’t just for IT. It looks like stranded passengers, stalled operations, and eroded trust.

Experts warn that this mirrors a broader pattern seen in other recent airline breaches, where attackers exploited trusted third-party connections. Vendor risk management remains a major gap: 58% of organisations lack a consistent vendor access plan, and nearly half reported a supplier-driven breach in the past year.

Industry leaders argue the solution isn’t to wall off partners but to govern access with intent. That means deploying vendor privileged access management, strengthening credential management practices, enforcing least privilege access, and continuously monitoring vendor sessions.

By treating vendors and third-party identities as high-risk and applying just-in-time controls, organisations can contain inevitable incidents while ensuring operations, and passengers, keep moving.