A mysterious cybercriminal group, Anonymous Arabia, has targeted Abu Dhabi Airport, leading to its alleged shutdown. The gravity of the situation is heightened by the fact that Abu Dhabi Airport ranks as the second busiest airport in the UAE, following Dubai Airport. The claimed Abu Dhabi airport cyberattack has the potential to cause significant disruptions to the daily operations of a vital airport in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, the details surrounding the Abu Dhabi Airport cyberattack remain veiled in mystery, as the group has not disclosed any additional information.
The Cyber Express team attempted to access the Abu Dhabi Airport website to verify these assertions. The website appeared to be functioning normally. There is a possibility that the website went offline temporarily and was restored later.
Abu Dhabi Airport Cyberattack
Anonymous Arabia’s update on the alleged cyberattack on Abu Dhabi Airport has been posted on the dark web portal of the cybercriminal group. A cybersecurity research organization posted a screenshot of the same on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the cyberattack was of the DDoS category.
The alleged Anonymous Arabia-led Abu Dhabi Airport cyberattack is possibly a result of the UAE’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war. UAE had distanced itself from the League of Islamic Nations that was supporting Hamas-led atrocities on Israeli citizens and land. UAE had also criticized the actions of Hamas.
TCE team has reached out to officials for verification of the Abu Dhabi Airport cyberattack, but no official response has been received at this time.
Not the Lone Target
UAE’s Abu Dhabi Airport is not the only target of the Anonymous Arabia group. The Abu Dhabi Airport cyberattack coincides with the attack on Rocket League, a video game platform. This vehicular soccer video game was developed and published by Psyonix.
A screenshot posted on X (formerly Twitter) reads, “User reports indicate problems at Rocket League.”
The Cyber Express team tried to load the website of Rocket League on its systems and found the website functioning normally.
Not the First Incident
The alleged Anonymous Arabia-led Abu Dhabi Airport cyberattack is not the first incident of cybercrime by the same group in UAE. The Cyber Express had also reported an incident of targeting the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) by the same cybercriminal gang.
According to the hacker gang, the strikes were carried out with a powerful force of two gigabytes per second, making it one of their most effective attacks to date.
The hacktivist group said in a message that the bank had been forced offline in protest of the UAE’s supposed financial benefit at the expense of the Palestinian cause and its normalization of relations with Israel.
The coordinated attacks carried out by Anonymous Arabia emphasize the growing convergence of hacktivism, cyber warfare, and geopolitics.
These intrusions serve as a reminder of the weaknesses in financial institutions’ digital infrastructure and the possible repercussions of political decisions made on the virtual battlefield, particularly as tensions in the Middle East grow.
Such cyberattacks have ramifications that go beyond the digital sphere, posing issues with nation-states’ ethical obligations in the light of increasing global connection as well as the changing character of warfare.
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