New Center for Crime Established at Munich Airport

The Munich Airport operating company Flughafen München GmbH (FMG) has launched an Information Security Hub (ISH) on site, comprising a competence center for IT specialists who will also cooperate with experts with in the European aviation industry to develop specific strategies and new approaches to defend against cyber attacks and to fight cybercrime in general.
With continual advancements in digitization over recent years, there has also been a substantial increase in cyber-attacks on IT systems in companies and public authorities in Germany. Munich Airport itself is subjected to numerous attacks on a daily basis.
Thomas Weyer, FMG’s CFO and Director of Infrastructure commented: “As an airport operating company, we are responsible for the functionality of critical infrastructure and must take up the fight every day to ensure protection against cyberattacks,” adding that: “Attacks on IT systems around the world have taken on new dimensions in terms of quality and quantity in recent years. New viruses, worms and malware are constantly being developed and turned loose on potential vulnerabilities in our IT systems. The further we move ahead with digitalization, and the more functions are performed and networked by computers, the more potential points of attack they will present to global cybercriminals – and the more serious the potential consequences of targeted attacks will become.”
The competency center has four training rooms and IT labs, a control room and an amphitheater for presentations and briefings. All of the facilities have computers, network hardware, cameras and projectors such that, for example, a group can carry out realistic attacks on IT systems for training purposes, while a second group can be assigned to take defensive measures.
The work of the ISH will not relate exclusively to IT security at the airport. Additional activities will involve cooperation between companies and across industry boundaries. Enterprises, public authorities and other institutions will be able to train security experts for their organizations and conduct detailed testing of innovative technologies and processes. The principal targets of the Information Security Hub will be airports, airlines and other partners from the aviation industry that will be required meet the new regulatory requirements for the transportation sector as providers of critical infrastructure.
FMG is part-owned by the Free State of Bavaria (51%), the Federal Republic of Germany (26%) and Munich, the state capital (23%). The company has made significant contributions to the development of Munich Airport to create one of the most important air transport hubs in Europe.