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Investigators rule out cyberattack as cause of Jan. 1 aviation mess

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Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt=" Hundreds of stranded passengers crowd the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City after hundreds of flights were cancelled, delayed or diverted on New Year" s="" Day.="" at="" the="" air="" navigation="" facilities="" of="" Civil="" Aviation="" Authority="" Philippines="" prompted="" cancellation="" local="" and="" international="" according="" to="" Department="" Transportation.="" Gerard="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/01/02/20230101-naia-new-year-crisis-jvc1.jpg"/><figcaption>Hundreds of stranded passengers crowd the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City after hundreds of flights were cancelled, delayed or diverted on New Year&#x27;s Day. “Technical issues” at the air navigation facilities of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) prompted the cancellation of local and international flights, according to the Department of Transportation. Gerard Carreon</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA (UPDATE) — An office of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has ruled out the possibility of &quot;cyberattack&quot; as the cause of the New Year&#x27;s day air traffic fiasco, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) told the Senate on Thursday.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/02/23/sabotage-or-incompetence-probe-sought-over-ny-eve-airport-mess">&#x27;Sabotage or incompetence&#x27;: Probe sought over PH airport mess on New Year&#x27;s day</a></li></ul>During the Senate public services panel hearing on the incident, CAAP Director General Manuel Tamayo revealed the initial findings of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC). <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/11/23/zubiri-says-people-should-be-fired-over-unforgivable-air-traffic-mess">Zubiri says &#x27;people should be fired&#x27; over &#x27;unforgivable&#x27; air traffic fiasco</a></li></ul>&quot;CICC conducted a parallel investigation on January 3. The result indicates that the incident is unlikely due to a cyberattack. However the damaged circuit breaker has been transferred to them for forensic investigation,&quot; Tamayo told the senators.DICT&#x27;s CICC is the lead government office which specializes on cybercrime prevention and monitoring.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/31/22/new-head-of-dict-cybercrime-investigation-unit-named">New head of DICT&#x27;s cybercrime investigation office named</a></li></ul>However, CICC later on corrected CAAP&#x27;s assertion and said that the ruling out of cyberattack was &quot;not conclusive&quot; yet.&quot;I would like to correct the report... If there was a cyberattack, we have not reached that level of [investigation yet]... That (report) is not conclusive,&quot; CICC chief Alexander Ramos. Ramos also said that lack of equipment is preventing them from conducting a deeper probe into the incident. The CAAP earlier said it takes &quot;full responsibility&quot; for the airport meltdown that affected over 65,000 passengers on the first day of the year.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/12/23/caap-takes-full-responsibility-for-airport-meltdown">CAAP takes &#x27;full responsibility&#x27; for New Year&#x27;s airport fiasco</a></li></ul>Some 360 flights in and out of Manila were cancelled, diverted or delayed. The outage hit as many people began returning to the capital after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

CAAP director general Manuel Tamayo revealed the initial findings of the CICC on the incident. 

Investigators rule out cyberattack as cause of Jan. 1 aviation mess

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Investigators rule out cyberattack as cause of Jan. 1 aviation mess

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 12, 2023 04:36 PM PHT

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Updated January 12, 2023 06:58 PM PHT

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Senate

senator

CAAP

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines

NAIA

airport mess

airport meltdown

cyberattack

Department of Information and Communications Technology

Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center

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