Cyberattack ruled out in Greek airspace shutdown

Airspace shutdown in Greece following a major radio communications failure on Sunday has not been caused by a cyberattack, The Associated Press reports.

Multiple air traffic communication channels used by Greece, including backup systems, have recorded noise, which led to the hours-long grounding, diversion, or delay of numerous flights, according to officials.

"There is not the slightest indication that we are dealing with a cyberattack. I need to make that clear," said Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis. Such an outage, which was noted by Greece's Air Traffic Controllers' Association to be indicative of the need to update the country's air communications equipment, has already prompted both a judicial and internal investigation.

Another investigative panel composed of Greek air force, European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation or Eurocontrol, and cyberdefense agency representatives, as well as civil aviation authorities, has also been formed by Greek Transport and Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas.