Cyberattacks which have crippled Heathrow and European airports bear 'hallmarks of Putin' and the timing after NATO airspace incursions is 'suspicious'

UK Mail ^ | 20 September 2025 | DAN WOODLAND

[dennisw]

A security expert has claimed Russia 'could well be' behind a cyber attack that crippled operations at several major European airports today.

Hackers targeted check-in and boarding systems operator Collins Aerospace on Friday night, sparking major disruption, flight delays and cancellations at transport hubs across the continent.

The company is 'experiencing a technical issue which may cause delays for departing passengers' as a result of the attack, which crippled online check-in systems at Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels.

One expert told the Daily Mail that Russia could be behind the hack, adding: 'The timing of the attack, coming just hours after reported Russian incursions into NATO airspace, will only fuel suspicion.'

On Friday three fighter jets entered neighbouring Estonia in a 'reckless' and 'brazen' move that was condemned by Donald Trump.

Rob Jardin, Chief Digital Officer at cybersecurity experts NymVPN, explained that 'Russia employs one of the largest hacker groups in the world' and has previously launched sabotage campaigns against European energy and telecoms networks.

Russian hackers are known to target the aviation industry, with groups having crashed the websites of two British airports in 2023. There was also speculation that a global IT crash last year was carried out by Kremlin-sponsored hackers.

Collins Aerospace itself has also previously been the target of suspected Russian attacks after ransomware group BianLian caused a huge data breach in 2023.

Speaking to the Daily Mail about the likelihood Russia was behind Friday's attack, Rob Jardin, Chief Digital Officer at cybersecurity experts NymVPN, said that 'could well be' the case.

'Russia could well be behind this. Intelligence services across Europe have repeatedly reported evidence of Moscow's state-backed sabotage campaigns against energy and telecoms networks.

[dennisw]

Bad Vlad's hackers done it, say the cyber security experts.

[9YearLurker]

Related to our issues this week—or coincidence?

[Jan_Sobieski]

I didn’t know Putin could code?!

[jroehl]

This is keeping the Indians out of America before the $100,000 work visa fees kick in tomorrow. lol

[pepsi_junkie]

Did he plan this right after he blew up his own undersea pipeline?

[jerod]

Pretty sure he's computer illiterate... Then again... Maybe he's just completely illiterate. He does a lot of dumb things.

[Robert DeLong]

Gee where have we heard that claim before? It was proven to be a false claim, and those who promoted it knew that they were lying. It could be China just as much as it could be Russia. So, excuse me if I question the narrative that it is Russia.

When will all admit, that starting this conflict was not Russia's fault, but was NATO's fault due to miscalculation as to Russia's strength.

While it has panned out that Russia was not as strong as some once believed, but it is also panned out that neither is Russia as some once believed as well.

[Navy Patriot]

Cyberattacks which have crippled Heathrow and European airports bear 'hallmarks of Putin' and the timing after NATO airspace incursions is 'suspicious'

In other news, the FBI and NSA have confirmed that that the "Hunter Biden Laptop Computer" was manufactured, assembled, programmed and planted by Russian Agents, after "conveniently" being found in a Delaware computer repair shop.

[Jan_Sobieski]

And Russians are knuckle dragging mongols? And Russia is just a big frozen gas station?

[AnotherUnixGeek]

It could be China just as much as it could be Russia.

It never fails to astonish me how completely China has slipped our attention while we remain obsessed with Russia - effectively a Third World nation armed with some outdated nuclear weapons.

China is by far the biggest threat the US faces internationally today. Both on the Left and the Right, we are single-mindedly focused on the wrong foreign enemy.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

Thanks for the interesting Daily Mail article. Among other things, it suggests the MUSE software is not well defended against hacking.

It is a "could be" article, rather than a definitive article. A simple word search in the article. One is from a "former RAF commander" who is not named, and the other is from "one expert," which may be Rob Jardin though the Daily Mail prose is inexpert.

Of Jardin:

"Rob Jardin, Chief Digital Officer at cybersecurity experts NymVPN...." He is quoted as saying "The Cold War never truly ended - it has simply shifted into digital infrastructure that spans entire continents."

As to marketing: NymVPN Review: New Ultra Private VPN [Is it Worth it?] Review by Keelan Balderson published on May 22, 2025

"...Nym is very excited to welcome Robinson Jardin to the Nym core team as Head of Marketing. Before joining Nym, Rob spent four years at NordVPN as the Head of Digital & Social Media, which he helped scale to over 14 million users. Rob will play a crucial role in building Nym’s marketing team and launching NymVPN to the world. Privacy through a mixnet, remember, needs real scale." more....

Source: Welcoming new additions to the Nym team Nymm 24 July 2024

The "expert" is head of marketing for a VPN -- one virtual private network of many. many competing products. They are hq'd in Neuchatel, Switzerland. So how this expert -- a marketing head of a company, not one of the science officers, who are all named on their site -- was sourced is interesting. It reads a bit like "product placement" marketing.

Their "New Ultra Private VPN" is circa $10 a month, down to much less on a per year basis, sounds not quite like something an airline or other large company would use for being too small in scale.

The online poll shows about 3/4s of Daily Mail readers think Russia is the culprit, while 1/4 don't. Some of the funny comments show this diversity.

One perceptive comment asks: "How is it possible for cyber attacks? Surely such attacks can be detected and blocked before they impact our systems? Or do the 'experts' just not have the ability to sort it out in advance?!"

[dennisw]

Gee where have we heard that claim before? It was proven to be a false claim, and those who promoted it knew that they were lying. It could be China just as much as it could be Russia. So, excuse me if I question the narrative that it is Russia.

UK is one of the top nations that Putin-Russia hate and envy. UK is one of the top suppliers to Ukraine for troops training going back since Putin's Crimea 2014 invasion. UK sends plenty of aid and weaponry to Ukraine now. England has battled Russia over the Crimea 1853 to February 1856. This war is where the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" comes from. UK has loads of nukes pointed at Russia. They have been adversaries for years.

So there are high odds that Putin arranged these cyber attacks on the top British airports, to sow chaos and confusion. Ukraine has been hitting Russian oil refineries very hard. There are long gasoline lines in some Russian cities. Putin figures that if Russians are going to suffer, undermining Putin's popularity, make the UK population suffer via cyber warfare.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "In other news, the FBI and NSA have confirmed that that the 'Hunter Biden Laptop Computer' was manufactured, assembled, programmed and planted by Russian Agents, after 'conveniently' being found in a Delaware computer repair shop."

Hi, US Navy! US Army is chuckling aloud at your apt inclusion of "intelligence" from our "experts." One notes how the "51 experts" story is no longer mentioned much. Nor the cocaine in the White Powder House which "experts" simply could not trace.

[Robert DeLong]

Let me alter your statement, in just a minor way. While China is a threat to this nation, it is actually a threat to the entire world, for it wants to be the dominate nation of the world, and rule it in the same brutal manner which they use to control their own citizens in China.

Otherwise, your post was absolutely correct, and required just a small clarification. 🙂🤙

[mewzilla]

Meanwhile, the UK has continued to buy Russian energy...

[mewzilla]

The Daily Fail, NymVPN...

Say no more.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

Liked taking a look at source of the New Zealand host for your graphic.

Before that, since they were an interim stop along the way, it was in a September 3, 2015 article: " 'Pahan of the Globe' ...This is where Putin and Assad will propose...." Part of a Live Journal blog (which is actually a Russian with its domain registered in 1999).

Ten years worth of use, best the detailing on the graphic trace shows. Been used and sometimes altered in a variety of ways. Here's another version for you:

[bobbo666]

...”could well be” = trash talk from someone with no bloody idea but wants $$ to study it.

[al baby]

Well he does have a super bowl ring