No cyber attack caused UK Border Force outage + ruled out

TLDR:

• An IT outage caused the automated passport control e-gates at UK airports to crash on May 7, resulting in long delays for travelers.
• Government officials ruled out a cyber attack on the UK’s Border Force as the cause of the outage.

Summary:

An IT outage that occurred on May 7 caused chaos at airports across the UK as automated passport control e-gates crashed, leading to long delays for arriving passengers. London’s Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted airports, as well as others, were affected. While the outage was resolved, government officials ruled out a cyber attack as the cause. The Home Office, responsible for the Border Force, activated contingency plans and apologized for the disruption to travelers. A probe is underway to determine the cause of the incident and prevent future occurrences. John Atkinson from Riverbed highlighted the importance of network monitoring and issue remediation to prevent downtime in complex IT systems. The UK’s automated border gates have faced IT outages in the past, affecting travelers from various countries.