In light of the consecutive cyber attacks at London’s Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin airports, an advance alert has been issued regarding this matter for international and domestic airports in Bangladesh.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) issued these instructions last week, urging officials and staff involved in airport management to follow a 10-point cybersecurity guideline.
The instructions, signed by CAAB Member (Planning & Operations) Air Commodore Abu Sayeed Mehboob Khan, were sent to the heads of all airports in the country and relevant senior officials of civil aviation. The guidelines advise using strong passwords, refraining from suspicious emails or links, keeping software and antivirus updated regularly, avoiding the use of pirated software, not installing personal apps on official devices, and keeping multi-factor authentication (MFA) activated.
Additionally, instructions have been given to immediately inform the CAAB CERT Team, the IT Department, and the National Cyber Incident Response Team if any cybersecurity-related problem arises.
A meeting held at CAAB’s headquarters on 15 September discussed the risks of cyber attacks and preventive measures.
The meeting was informed that flight operations had to be temporarily suspended at several London airports following cyber attacks. Consequently, it was decided to take advance precautions in Bangladesh as well.
The meeting further informed that the CAAB website had recently been subjected to a cyber attack. Following this incident, the National Cyber Security Agency advised the authority to conduct a risk assessment on an urgent basis.
