Heathrow’s Cyberattack: A Pilot’s View on Grounding Risk and Quantum Security

When Heathrow Airport’s check-in systems went dark this week (September 2025) (see, for instance, https://www.capacitymedia.com/article-cyberattack-grounds-heathrow#:~:text=A%20cyberattack%20on%20software%20used,as%20automated%20systems%20went%20down. ) I didn’t just read the headlines I felt them—first in my pilot bones, then in my cryptographer’s brain.

As a private pilot fascinated by air travel, I know how tightly every system in aviation is choreographed: hundreds of signals and subsystems all talking to each other, every second. And as someone who works in post-quantum cryptography, I see the invisible math that keeps those conversations private and authentic.

This time, something failed. Even though the authorities have caught a suspect, that didn't stop the failure, or lessen the consequences of the failure.

What Happened Over Heathrow

In the late hours of September 19–20, 2025, a ransomware attack on Collins Aerospace’s MUSE software—used for check-in and boarding at major airports—triggered chaos across Europe. Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin were among the hardest hit. Manual backup processes kicked in, but long lines and cascading delays made for a long night for passengers and crews alike.

The EU’s cybersecurity agency confirmed ransomware as the source, highlighting the vulnerability of shared vendor infrastructure. This wasn’t a single airport’s problem. It was a supply-chain failure with continent-wide consequences.

We should note that none of this touched the aircraft's own computer command and control systems. Those are isolated.

A Pilot’s Instinct: Always Ask “What If”

Every time I fly, I’m thinking ahead: What if that sensor goes dark? What if a comm link drops? What if the weather shifts faster than predicted?

That mindset belongs in every airport server room, too. Because whether we’re in the air or on the ground, aviation depends on layered redundancy and clear, tested fallback plans.

Heathrow’s manual mode was admirable in the moment—but it’s not a long-term shield. Here are some key lessons from the breach:

1. Third-party software is the weakest link

2. The attackers didn’t need to compromise Heathrow’s own servers. They hit a vendor module that many airports shared. One gap = global impact.

3. Fallback is not a strategy, its just a mitigation of the immediate problem as its happening.

4. Manual check-in saved the day, but it slowed operations to a crawl. In a more critical system, “manual mode” might not even exist.

5. Passenger data may still be exposed. Given all the privacy laws in most of the world and our duty of stewardship to client's data, that is a problem.

6. We’ve focused on flight delays, but the bigger question may be whether personal and operational data were quietly stolen while we were looking at the immediate problem.

7. Quantum-era threats loom: today’s breach used ransomware. Tomorrow’s could exploit quantum breakthroughs to break classical encryption, letting attackers intercept or alter communications undetected.

Cryptographic Flight Plan: My 4 Urgent Fixes

Here’s what I recommend—for airports, airlines, and any industry that depends on complex vendor ecosystems:

1. Audit every critical vendor module to find weak links before attackers do.

2. Build crypto agility: migrate now by using post-quantum and hybrid algorithms so your defenses can evolve as threats change.

3. Segment and isolate networks: that limits the blast radius if one module is breached.

4. Run cyber-failure drills: test like pilots train; repeatedly, under stress, with contingencies.

These aren’t theoretical. They’re standard operating procedures for the future of aviation cybersecurity.

Why Post-Quantum Cryptography Belongs on the Runway

We’re entering an era when quantum computers could break today’s encryption standards. For global aviation—where trust is everything—that means starting migrations now, not when quantum attacks finally arrive.

The Heathrow attack is the perfect case study in how an adversary can exploit outdated cryptography and single points of failure.

Keeping the Skies Open and Safe: a Call to Action

As a pilot, I love the freedom of the sky.

As a cryptographer, I want that freedom to remain secure.

Heathrow’s incident isn’t just a story about delayed flights. It's a preview of what could happen to navigation, communication, and flight-control systems if we don’t act.

Let’s treat this as what it really is: a wake-up call to rethink cyber defense—from the tarmac to the cloud, and from today’s algorithms to tomorrow’s quantum era.

Want to stress-test your aviation or transport systems against tomorrow’s cryptographic threats? Invite me to speak or request a consultation to build a flight plan for quantum-safe security.