Being first isn’t always best, especially when it means being the first major airport to be hit by a cyberattack. On August 24, 2024, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) suffered a ransomware attack that disrupted multiple systems and forced manual operations until recovery was safe. This unprecedented incident exposed key vulnerabilities and tested every aspect of airport resilience. Since then, other airports have faced similar threats, making SEA’s experience a vital learning opportunity. This session shares SEA’s major lessons learned – operational, financial and information security – to strengthen aviation readiness against future cyber disruptions.

• Operational security and crisis management – what you can do better when it starts
• Information security – key takeaways from this evolving threat
• Business continuity and communication – what you can prepare for
• Plans management – actions airports can take now to mitigate impacts
• Chaos you never thought a cyberattack would cause – widespread breadth of systems impacted and what you can do