The Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA) is warning European aircraft brokers and charter operators about the escalating threat of cyber attacks. “It appears that a sophisticated criminal community is targeting the business aviation sector and has hacked into broker and operator internal communications systems for access to bank accounts and trading information,” BACA said. “The attacks have taken place in the UK and throughout Europe.”

While hacking has been a problem for some time, the escalation of attacks in recent months has been “quite alarming.” According to BACA, it seems to be a coordinated campaign targeting business aviation operators and brokers for “significant” sums of money. In some cases, the attacks have used the e-mail and system accounts of current or recently departed employees.

“BACA is alerting members to the threat and emphasizing the importance of security of company websites, communications and payment systems,” said BACA chairman Richard Mumford. “The number of cyber attacks we have heard about has risen quite dramatically. BACA advises brokers and operators to be extremely vigilant and monitor all transactions, internally and externally, at all times.”

Mumford said that BACA is planning a symposium/training day to alert brokers and operators to the risks of cyber attack, to encourage the exchange of experiences and ideas and to help formulate steps that can be taken to minimize the chances of an attack.