By Michele Hickford
If you have travel plans today that include flying, expect a few hiccups.
This morning, Delta Air Lines announced a massive power outage in Atlanta has impacted essentially all flights not currently in the air.
At 7:35 ET, Delta posted this announcement:
"A power outage in Atlanta, which began at approximately 2:30 a.m. ET, has impacted Delta computer systems and operations worldwide, resulting in flight delays. Large-scale cancellations are expected today. All flights enroute are operating normally. We are aware that flight status systems, including airport screens, are incorrectly showing flights on time. We apologize to customers who are affected by this issue, and our teams are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Updates will be available on news.delta.com."
Of course there’s no reason given for the power outage, and of course there’s no reason to think this is anything other than a massive glitch, but this is the sort of thing that always has me reaching for my tinfoil hat.
As a matter of fact, I’m not the only one. Newsweek today re-republished (http://www.newsweek.com/cyber-warfare-between-countries-look-488267) an article called “This Is What Cyber Warfare Between Nations Would Look Like.” While the article focuses on what would happen if our entire internet network was taken down (and clearly that hasn’t happened today because you’re reading this online) it does mention Strategists know that the most fragile part of internet infrastructure is the energy supply. The starting point in serious cyber warfare may well be to trip the power stations which power the data centers involved with the core routing elements of the network.”
Cyber hacking is top of our mind now, considering the Wikileaks dump of DNC emails, and the far-reaching impact of Hillary’s unsecured private server (including possibly tipping off Iran about a spy — whom they just executed).
Not often reported in the mainstream media are other cyber hacks, such as in March of this year, when the U.S. Department of Justice issued indictments against seven hackers linked to the Iranian government that attacked critical infrastructure in the U.S., including the control system of the Bowman Avenue Dam near New York City. The hacker was able to infiltrate the dam controls, changing water levels and forcing operators to manually disconnect some of the control systems during the attack. This marked the first time the U.S. is charging nation-state hackers with attacking critical infrastructure.
But as far as Delta is concerned, it’s probably nothing to worry about… we hope.
[Note: This article was written by Michele Hickford]
http://www.allenbwest.com/michele/breaking-delta-grounds-flights-worldwide
