Kevin BeaumontARINC SelfServ vMUSE devices are down in airports in EU, they do self service check in. They’re connected to navAviNet aka ARINC Ground Network, managed by Collins Aerospace, who are owned by RTX.
An attacker got onto to the shared network.
RTX is Raytheon btw, a large cybersecurity provider. Looking into it.. but so far, looks like e-crime.
The systems impacted are in ARINC Multi-User System Environment (MUSE™) aka Rockwell Collins’ ARINC vMUSE™. This is like the corporate centipede of acquisitions!
Shodan dork if you wanna rubberneck:
org:"ARINC INCORPORATED"
6x AnyConnect VPN boxes offline
BBC good reporting on the ground impact
In theory it should be minimal but in practice airlines have automated many jobs so we’ll see.
The media are reporting this is impacting 3 airports, but it's actually more - the 3 airports are main transport hubs so building up backlogs (eg Heathrow is at 50% delayed flights now) but there's others, they're just smaller.
The most surprising element so far is ARINC didn't tell Heathrow it was cyber related for almost 15 hours.
If any journalists want a list of top impacted airports to check: https://infosec.exchange/@nieldk/115237394885804514
BBC have Dublin and Cork added.
PhreakByte (@[email protected])
@cirriustech @[email protected] here are the “top ten” airports using vMUSE. See any you recognize in Europe as listed in current incident ;) 1. London Heathrow (LHR) 2. Glasgow Airport (GLA) 3. Berlin Schönefeld (SXF) 4. Dublin Airport (DUB) 5. Cork Airport (ORK) 6. Cologne Bonn Airport (CGN) 7. Mazatlán International Airport (Mexico) 8. Zihuatanejo International Airport (Mexico) 9. Monterrey International Airport (Mexico) 10. Velana International Airport (Maldiverne)
ARINC collect passenger biometric data on vMUSE, which is the system which has been impacted (the user identity database in particular, hence why airline staff can't log in either).
Here’s where it began this time yesterday, before the whole thing tumbled off a cliff.
ARINC hope to have vMUSE back online shortly, they’re restoring their Windows environment from backup. Somebody got Domain Admin and totalled it.
ARINC are flying engineers out to airports to try to fix terminals.
Brussels airport, EBBR, have issued this NOTAM: “AD LTD DUE TO AN IT SYSTEM DISRUPTION. AIRLINES ARE TO CANCEL 50
PERCENT OF THEIR DEPARTING PASSENGER FLIGHTS IN THIS TIMEFRAME”
The ARINC incident continues https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy88857llno
Also for anybody interested, ARINC is where the cyber incident is.
ARINC were basically the OG airport network provider, from 1929. ARNIC were sold to Carlyle Group (private equity) in 2007, who sold them to Rockwell Collins in 2013, who sold to United Technologies in 2018, who merged to form Collins Aerospace. Their network looks a mess of US corporate shenanigans… webmail doesn’t even require https yet 😅
Worth noting that airplanes are incredibly safe and resilient after extensive regulation and open and transparent investigations of every air incident…
when you land on the ground, however, air travel is caught in the same cybersecurity bullshit every other industry is caught up in.
The incident continues https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqjeej85452o
The ARINC incident is likely to continue through the week. They haven’t yet got the threat out of the network.
After ARINC restored domain controllers from backup, the threat actor got back in and started trashing more stuff. 🫡
The whole thing is a mess, they probably want to pause, take a breathe, and think about flushing out attacker before rebuilding things.
The airport thing is still rumbling on, terminals haven’t been restored by ARINC, it’s just disappeared from headlines as the media got bored.
Berlin Airport ran at 70% delays yesterday
I’ve confirmed today that Heathrow, Berlin and Dublin all still have no Muse terminals restored. I haven’t checked other airports. It’s even more complicated because Muse both processes and stores biometrics of passengers.
"Before we reconnect our system, we must be 100% sure that there are no malware programmes left," the BER spokesman said.
The Muse systems at impacted airports will likely be down the rest of the week. Airlines are being advised to continue contingency measures.
Heathrow is at 80% flight delays, Brussels 79%, Dublin 74%, Berlin 84% - all are vMuse. London City isn't on vMuse, they're at 33% as a point of comparison.
The Europe airlines ransomware situation is a variant of Hardbit ransomware, which doesn’t have a portal and is incredibly basic.
They’ve had to restart recovery again as the devices keep getting reinfected. I’ve never seen an incident like it. Somebody like the NCSC needs to go in and help them with IR.
Look at Dublin airport, reporters starting to realise it never actually got fixed 😅
https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-airport-issues-timeline-fix-6824817-Sep2025/
Delays at airports continue today. ARINC/Collins have been unable to tell impacted airports when services will resume. https://www.vienna.at/after-cyberattack-continued-disruptions-at-berlin-airport/9691694
Flight delays today:
Heathrow 78%
Brussels 79%
Dublin 68%
Berlin 86%
All are vMuse. London City isn't on vMuse, they're at 35% as a point of comparison.
Heathrow PR statement: "Collins Aerospace has confirmed an IT issue with the systems that it supplies to a number of airlines across Europe. We are supporting affected airlines with their contingencies and have deployed additional colleagues in terminals to assist passengers."
40 year old man arrested in connection to airport cybersecurity incident https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62ldxyj431o
alturiakNPR and PBS have somehow managed to run a completely bollocks article linking the EU airport thing to AI - the article itself written by an AI cybersecurity vendor. https://www.wgcu.org/science-tech/2025-09-23/detection-expert-says-hackers-likely-used-ai-to-penetrate-airport-system
It's completely false. The payloads used in this one are detected by free Defender AV with a decade old static AV detections. This is not some cyber mega attack by a ransomware group: it's extremely poor security hygiene.
RTX, the owner of Collins aka ARINC, finally filed an 8K with the SEC for a ransomware incident. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/101829/000010182925000036/rtx-20250919.htm?7194ef805fa2d04b0f7e8c9521f97343
If your board is concerned about the EU ransomware thing - there is no need to be concerned. It is not a wider issue.
It wouldn't surprise me if the person arrested turns out to be an employee trying to do incident response or some such (I'm not saying they're guilty, at all).
It's an extremely unusual incident and essentially involves lax cybersecurity and confused response.
ARINC/Collins have been unable to restore the systems in Brussels airport so they are ripping out and replacing everything.
HT @0xThiebaut
There’s a bit more info here: https://www.aviation24.be/airports/brussels-airport-bru/accelerate-rollout-of-new-check-in-system-after-cyberattack-on-collins-aerospace-software/
They will keep cancelling 10% of flights each day for the foreseeable future.
Flight delays today:
Heathrow 90%
Brussels 89%
Dublin 84%
Berlin 86%
All are vMuse. London City isn't on vMuse, they're at 33% as a point of comparison.
In terms of recovery:
- Heathrow going nowhere, manual workarounds to issue bag tags and boarding passes, airlines have been told to maintain continency measures until w/c October 6th
- Brussels Airport are manual workarounds to issue bag tags and boarding passes, and are ripping out all their vMuse terminals and Muse IT infrastructure and replacing them
- Dublin making progress to starting restoration
- Berlin manual workarounds to issue bag tags and boarding passes
And yes, the 40 year old arrested yesterday lives in West Sussex - which is where Collins Aerospace has its avionics staff based.
Aer Lingus have got their check in terminals working again at Dublin Airport
Flight delays today:
Heathrow 95%
Brussels 94%
Dublin 76%
Berlin 80%
All are vMuse. London City isn't on vMuse, they're at 33% as a point of comparison.
If you're traveling via Heathrow, Brussels, Dublin or Berlin airport this weekend - flights are running fine but average 90% delays still.
Check in online (rather than at the airport). If you need to baggage drop add about ~30 mins to your usual schedule.
Expectation is this will last for about another week or two due to the ongoing issues at ARINC/Collins/RTX.
The exceptions are British Airways and Aer Lingus, who are okay now and extra staffed too.
Brussels Airport has today begun rolling out replacement terminals and servers for it's ARINC/Collins/RTX ransomware compromised infrastructure. https://www.traveldailynews.com/aviation/brussels-airport-accelerates-new-check-in-and-boarding-system-after-cyberattack/
Berlin Airport says it is still in the middle of the "crisis", with 20 Collins staff on site trying to restore systems.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/berlins-airport-still-suffering-delays-114722643.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/berlins-airport-still-suffering-delays-114722643.html
I'm probably going to stop tracking this one for now, basically the impacted airports are mostly okay to travel through, check in online basically.
Airports did a really good at being resilient, by falling back to paper and/or using online check in.
Collins, less so.
One hopefully final thought for now - interesting security setup to take and store biometrics. I'll be sure to rotate my face and fingerprints.
Okay, there’s an incredible update to the RTX/Collins/ARINC airport ransomware situation
Everest are claiming the incident, saying they exfiltrated a very large amount of data, including passenger data.
They’re really salty and claim it wasn’t ransomware.. what they aren’t aware of (this isn’t in the story) is an in parallel, somebody also tried to deploy ransomware.
Overall the problem is: shite security.
Exclusive: Passenger and employee data allegedly compromised in Collins Aerospace hack
The Everest hacking group is claiming to have the flight data of more than 1.5m passengers and thousands of airline employees; says Collins Aerospace is responsible for airport shutdowns, not ransomware.
Marcus Adams@GossiTheDog Targeted by two groups at once, nice, lol.
~w00p~@GossiTheDog I've read somewhere that Collins might have faked the ransomware to get insurance?? (not sure how trustworthy it is) 😅 that would be.... dumb
Lisa@GossiTheDog https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2025-10/drohnen-cyberangriff-flughafen-muenchen-berlin-einschraenkungen
Here it says, that a spokesperson of Berlin airport said, that the system is repaired. They did security tests this weekend and starting Monday the systems will be reconnected.
Here it says, that a spokesperson of Berlin airport said, that the system is repaired. They did security tests this weekend and starting Monday the systems will be reconnected.
Harald WagenerThere still are regular announcements of possible delays and cancellations due to an IT incident at an external service provider, and please check with your air line.
The airline I am flying with today also sent me a text message to avoid checked in luggage and to please check in online and/or print a boarding pass at home.
Clemens Zauner@GossiTheDog
I'm looking forward how the authorities are looking into these incidents, as Airports are classified as critical Infrastructure and as such for sure fell under the NIS (the original one) and now under NIS II.
They were subject to have Business Continuity Plans, as well as making sure their supply chain has all her ducks in row.
Well, who am I kidding. Nothing will happen to anyone. SADLY. As Management is directly responsible and subject to penalties for failing these obligations.
Quentyn 
@GossiTheDog I flew through Berlin two weeks ago after the marathon (the initial weekend of the incident).. check in was paper-based but more annoying the gate process was also paper-based.. incredibly inefficient at the gate and it took us over two hours to get on the plane. It really looked like they hadn't done any incident simulations at all unless that was just the service level that they thought was acceptable
B166IR@GossiTheDog vMuse is basically just a simple Windows shell with shortcuts to airline apps. Most workstations worldwide have admin backdoors enabled by default, and security usually isn’t taken seriously until shit hits the fan
Brokar@GossiTheDog I guess so-called fingerprint'ers (TM) will be the next runner.
Certainly will i hand over my biometric data freely to any government. I have nothing to hide. And what could happen if they get hacked, right?
SIEM Shady@GossiTheDog I was recently at a social gathering with someone who used to sell products in the biometrics space, and they asked about how that plays today.
I broke the news gently.
Adam Shostack 
@GossiTheDog "Transit stations and convention centers"?
bouriquet@GossiTheDog I remember that back in grade school we were indoctrinated with the fact that America was a “free” country because you could travel anywhere without restrictions or checks on your “papers” etc, in contrast with “other” countries.
Meredith@GossiTheDog love the way you posted on this one throughout
nyanbinary@GossiTheDog so "back to normal"? 
Cris@GossiTheDog Had no issues flying in to Brussels but did have a slight delay. Let’s see how the travel back will be. And of course I will be in Berlin next week.
Joseph C.@GossiTheDog Impact wise, I was at T5 today, the automatic gates for boarding weren’t functional because of the “systems issue” (according to the gate agents)
Eoin@GossiTheDog
go by train!!
Interrail, day 26 :))
abadidea@GossiTheDog are you suggesting the possibility of someone leveraging detailed inside knowledge of airport IT? “must have used AI” my hat
glaringanomaly(A)irport (I)T
Hambone Fakenamington@GossiTheDog I'm not sure that's a good metric / comparison. Do you have the stats from prior to the issues. The LHR delays seem to only be an average of 30 minutes, which may be BAU?
Troxuklom@GossiTheDog @0xThiebaut what a gong show
Joost Rekveld@GossiTheDog @0xThiebaut wow, that's crazy !
Alan Miller 
🇺🇦@GossiTheDog @0xThiebaut my thought: this might actually take longer but be a *predictable* longer.
Maxime Thiebaut@fencepost @GossiTheDog Brussels announced they’ve migrated 1/3 of the workstations already: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brussels-airport-company_update-cyber-incident-rollout-of-new-activity-7378479301844811776-E8yz
🚨 UPDATE CYBER INCIDENT - Rollout of new check-in system at Brussels Airport ongoing: one third of workstations already replaced Brussels Airport has started the accelerated rollout of its new… | Brussels Airport
🚨 UPDATE CYBER INCIDENT - Rollout of new check-in system at Brussels Airport ongoing: one third of workstations already replaced Brussels Airport has started the accelerated rollout of its new check-in and boarding system. One third of the 500 workstations have already been installed and configured. A dedicated team of around 20 IT experts is working around the clock to install, configure and test all equipment and software. From tomorrow, Tuesday 30 September, several flights will already be handled through the new system. The gradual transition of other airlines will follow in the coming days, depending on the results of this initial phase. In the meantime, alternative check-in systems remain fully operational to ensure continuity. Thanks to these alternative systems, the situation is under control and there have been no more flight cancellations related to the cyberattack. The airport community, in particular the airlines and handling companies, as well as all the staff involved, have shown exceptional commitment and resilience over the past ten days, allowing more than 700,000 passengers to take off or land at Brussels Airport despite the cyberattack. Brussels Airport would like to reiterate its sincere gratitude to them once again. We would also like to thank all our passengers for their understanding in these exceptional circumstances.
@GossiTheDog Brussels is reportedly ripping out and replacing affected hardware (new servers and est. 500 new endpoints). Unclear if they switched suppliers or whether they got upsold. https://archive.is/2025.09.24-160342/https://www.lesoir.be/700923/article/2025-09-24/cyberattaque-brussels-airport-un-nouveau-systeme-deploye-ce-lundi-avec-lespoir
Dr. Christopher Kunz@GossiTheDog I already read it. It's hilarious!
"Our customers have shifted to back-up or manual processes and have experienced certain flight delays and cancellations." yeah right, "certain" as in 80%.
"it has not had a material impact and is not reasonably expected to have a material impact, on the Company’s financial condition, business operations or results of operations."
If this doesn't have a material impact, who the hell negotiated those contracts without substantial penalties?
b3lt3r@GossiTheDog I'm sure all the airports operating with serious delays will be relieved to hear there's no material risk to business operations
Matt Hall"Our leased platform was the tool they used to do it! In this article we'll show you how!"
🙄
Alexander The 1st@401matthall @GossiTheDog #FirstThought: Boeing: "Never forget - our planes were instrumental in the 9/11 Twin Towers attack - and we'll show you how*!
*MCAS tutorial not included"
Forbearance@GossiTheDog so you are saying the airport systems were so easy to hack that even an ai user could do it
Expertenkommision Cyberunfallwell AI already hacked the financial markets, so ....
Chilly 
@GossiTheDog this is an NPR and PBS local station not the main sites obvi but I emailed them
Cary@chillybot @GossiTheDog Ya, seems to be from that one station, WGCU, not general NPR/PBS. I guess we are seeing the side-effects of stations seeking alternative funding sources...
vict0ni@GossiTheDog I don't think this is the correct reason they're wrong. The fact that the AV detection is/should be easy maybe indicates the use of AI, maybe the content it produced is based on old techniques. We know AI is not THAT advanced to produce brand new AV evasion techniques that easily.
Still, jumping to such a conclusion is bollocks indeed, I agree
fmobus@vict0ni @GossiTheDog I think you are reading the op wrong. The attack vector would have been detected _if the attacked system had basic AV protections using classic algorithms_.
Nothing was evaded with fancy new attacks powered by AI, it was a silly attack that only worked because the victims had poor security.
@vict0ni @GossiTheDog Having worked in the airline industry, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. The only reason this isn't more frequent is that the systems are so arcane that would-be attackers don't want to deal with it.
@GossiTheDog Shocked, I am—feeling faint—that you could even *suggest* so fundamental a vulnerability was exploited. There’s no honour among thieves nowadays.
Dan 
@GossiTheDog I love how the article-length advertisement interviewed the by-line company's founder for "insights" about how important ai tools are to stop other ai tools. Pure, steaming bullshit.
Mike J👹🐀 🤘🏻@GossiTheDog I didn't see anything about on either PBS's or NPR's site. This was a local affiliate.
jorntw@GossiTheDog definitely smells like bs. But how would one know what the real payload was? Has there been a statement?
Jerry 🦙💝🦙@GossiTheDog it feels like a concerningly large amount of cyber security news is now produced by the marketing departments of various cyber security companies
Stefan Eissing@jerry @GossiTheDog Reminds me of the good, ol' times of (anti-)virus news.
Bernard Quatermass