news

KLIA Network Disruption Was Caused By Unstable 21-Year-Old System And Not Cyber Attack

The airport's Core Network Switches (CNS) system had not been upgraded since 1998.

Cover image via Straits Times & Mukhriz Hazim/Malay Mail

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook told Dewan Rakyat that the five day long Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) system disruption in August was caused by the airport's aged Core Network Switches (CNS) system

Malay Mail reported that Loke was answering a question on the status of the police investigations into the network service disruption at KLIA.

Image via theSun Daily

He said that the massive outage was due to the airport's 21-year-old Core Network Switches (CNS) system that has not been upgraded since operations began in 1998.

"It was never changed. The core switches connect the entire network system at KLIA," he added.

The Airport's Total Management System was affected from the night of 21 August to 25 August due to the CNS glitch.

The police are still investigating the matter to determine whether there was sabotage

Image via KLIA 2

According to Free Malaysia Today, Loke said that the police have made an arrest over the disruption last August and no one has been implicated in the case.

Previously, investigators were looking into the possibility of a cyber attack but no evidence was found to support the suspicion.

The Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) is still looking into the amount of losses resulting from the incident

The incident affected multiple systems including flight information display, immigration, and baggage handling.

This resulted in flight delays and cancellations.

The Ministry of Tourism promises to take into account the security measures proposed by the committee to prevent the incident from happening again.

During the system disruption in August, up to 20 flights a day were delayed:

Meanwhile, here are some travel tips to take note of:

You may be interested in: