How a MENA airport ensured cyber defenses were as robust as possible

When a country holds a high-profile international event, for a few weeks it becomes one of the globe’s hottest destinations. Many hundreds of thousands of visitors fly into its national airport, putting stress on its infrastructure and testing its security. The airport becomes essential to the event’s success.

For one country in the MENA region, this was a pressing issue in the early 2020s. Ahead of an event it had spent much of the previous decade preparing for, the government was aware that its airport and national airline could be a target for hackers. It wanted to be sure that the cyber defenses were as robust as possible.

There was good reason. A cybersecurity breach could shut down the entire airport, presenting a threat to the safety of travelers and employees alike. The risk was more acute because airlines and airports have recently become targets for cyber criminals seeking travelers’ valuable personal information.

After the EY team was appointed, we had just a few months to test more than 150,000 pieces of equipment, or digital nodes, across the national airport and another site. From fire systems to security cameras, to building management systems, our task was to assess the organization’s entire digital landscape. This stretched across not just information technology systems, but also the internet of things (IoT) and even mission-critical operational technology.

To complete the task quickly across such a broad range of activities, we fielded a team of more than 30 cyber consultants from six international offices of EY. The logistics of the task were further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country went into lockdown halfway through, making accessing of the site far more difficult.

Even so, the EY team completed the project in the allotted time. Initially, we took stock by identifying all the organization’s digital assets. After that, the EY team probed their vulnerabilities by posing as hackers and helped the client testing the current security controls’ ability to detect any incidents, as well as the capabilities of the security operations center. “To give you an idea of what we did on the ground, at a certain stage in the project, one of the EY team members posed as a guest traveler and had the tools to try and hack into screens while walking through the airport,” explained EY Senior Manager in Technology Risk, EY Consulting LLC.

The next step was to help EY client evaluate and review all the cybersecurity tools, as well as the cybersecurity staff’s technical skills and training. And, finally, we assessed the vulnerabilities of the operational technology (OT) systems.

At the end of the project, EY team’s assessment gave the organization a clear view of where its cybersecurity vulnerabilities laid. It provided clear recommendations in terms of safety and data privacy, as well as operational efficiencies and the potential cybersecurity skills required.

The strength and depth of EY team’s capabilities meant that we finished this complex project within the allotted time, despite the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and without disrupting live operations at such a 24x7 facility. The organization was able to quickly repair the weaknesses identified in preparation for a successful event.

After the project’s completion, the national airport and airline company was able to address its areas of weakness ahead of the influx of visitors. In this way, it safeguarded not only its own staff and travelers, but also the success of a prestigious international event that had been many years in the making.

Until recently, the aviation sector was not considered a priority target for cyber criminals. However, it has begun to be targeted, especially as airlines and airports hold substantial amounts of travelers’ passport details, passenger data and payments information that can be hacked by fraudsters.

“Historically, the aviation industry was not considered a primary risk from cybersecurity attacks, but this is changing,” explains the Cybersecurity Partner, EY Consulting LLC working on the project. “Attackers are eyeing aviation companies because they hold a lot of personal information that is a prime target now for bad guys. Consequently, there’s a growing trend of aviation companies looking for enhancing their cybersecurity capabilities.”

Looking forward, the organization’s investment in assessing its cybersecurity status will pay long-term dividends. As one of the MENA’s major aviation hubs, millions of travelers pass through it every year. By fortifying cybersecurity, EY has secured its position as a global leader in the aviation industry.