Go manual in case of cyber attacks, says aviation expert

Switching back to manual methods could be the best defence in the event of a cyber attack on airports or aircraft even in this digital era, a top aviation expert has said.
People in the aviation space still need to be trained to turn to manual systems to counter cyber attacks, akin to another form of terrorism, said Pierre Coutu, president of Aviation Strategies International (ASI) said.
"Cyber attacks can cause major safety problems if they attack air traffic control. They can also cripple the operations of an airline or airlines, for example, if they freeze the flight planning, you don't know where your aircraft are and so on," he said.

Coutu is in Kolkata to be part of a two-day conference, beginning today, on emergency response at airports.
"Nowadays, we are very reliant on, for example, in technology for check-in at airports, reservation and so on. But, the moment you have a cyber attack, you are paralysed," he said.
"The defence is to go back to manual operations and we train people about the old way of doing things," the expert said.
The aim of the conference, being hosted by airport authorities in Kolkata, is to produce a report on the status of best practices in emergency response, taking into account new types of threats.