Another highly publicised cyber attack, this time on Collins Aerospace, has provoked major disruption at European airports, including Heathrow, which issued an apology to passengers over the weekend.
The attacks that recently impacted JLR, M&S, and the Co-op were all committed by Hacking group Scattered Spider, but there is no evidence that the group is linked to this cyber incident. As airports scramble to recover their operations, check-in and boarding systems, the National Cyber Security Centre said: “We are working with Collins Aerospace and affected UK airports, alongside Department for Transport and law enforcement colleagues, to fully understand the impact of an incident”.
The EU’s cyber agency says criminals are harnessing ransomware. Other experts identify social engineering techniques such as phishing being used to gain access to IT systems and confidential information and more “sophisticated technology such as deepfakes”.
“Our most critical organisations need better defence systems which are more robust to protect against the impact of social engineering”, says Clive Summerfield, CEO of FARx.
“The answer to these attacks lies in biometric analysis and verification”.
The majority of flights are still scheduled at Heathrow airport as the airline said it is still working to resolve the issues as quickly as possible, but not all airports have been able to deliver a normal service.
Identity Week Europe 2026 is shining the spotlight on a host of cybersecurity innovations and the goal remains clear: identity is the first line of defence. Our sessions on AI and Cybersecurity, Verification and Authentication, Non-Human Identity, Zero Trust, Cloud-Based Identity, Identity and Access Management, and more cover everything that enterprises need to know to ensure resilience in the age of sophisticated cyber threats.
