Airports face significant cybersecurity risks due to the convergence of IT and OT systems, third-party vendor exposure, and increasing ransomware attacks. We explore how best to approach tackling these conditions to ensure traveler safety and operational efficiency.
The Challenge
Airports are increasingly reliant on digital systems for passenger processing, baggage handling, and flight operations. This convergence of IT (e.g., public Wi-Fi, airline systems) and OT (e.g., access control, surveillance, power systems) creates complex security challenges. High-profile incidents, like at San Francisco International Airport, when two of its employee-facing websites were compromised by state‑linked Russian hackers to steal Windows login credentials. The malicious code targeted external visitors using Internet Explorer on Windows, and SFO responded by taking the sites offline and forcing password resets for affected user.
Airports also rely heavily on third-party vendors—from retail tenants to ground handlers—who often require network access. Without strict controls and visibility into these access points, third-party relationships can become backdoor vulnerabilities. At the same time, many airports still operate with limited cybersecurity staff, making around-the-clock monitoring and compliance a challenge.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, the average cost of a breach in the transportation sector is approximately $4.72 million. Flat network architecture, lack of segmentation, and insufficient real-time monitoring increase the risk of lateral attacks that could impact safety and operations. As the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) rolled out new cybersecurity mandates in 2022, airports now need to proactively address these risks to avoid penalties and operational disruptions.
It’s a tough ask when airports face underfunding, understaffing, and other deficiencies. That’s where MGT’s co-managed or managed solutions comes into play.
The Solution
Our certified solutions engineers offer a suite of managed services tailored to airport environments, including:
- 24x7x365 Monitoring via a U.S.-based NOC/SOC, with custom alerting and incident response playbooks to detect anomalies and suspicious activity.
- Managed Firewall-as-a-Service and Threat Intelligence, enhancing perimeter defense with real-time data feeds and threat hunting.
- Network Segmentation Support, isolating OT systems from public-facing IT assets to limit the blast radius of any breach.
- Vulnerability Management and Patch Management, ensuring consistent remediation of exposed systems and reducing dwell time for attackers.
- Multivendor Support, integrating tools with premier partners like Juniper, Cisco, Palo Alto, Aruba, and others into a unified monitoring and management platform.
- Compliance Consulting and Custom Playbooks, aligning airport systems with TSA and FAA cybersecurity requirements.
- Lifecycle and Asset Management, allowing IT teams to track, secure, and phase out aging infrastructure.
- Secure Remote Access Controls, establishing role-based permissions and logging for third-party vendors and contractors.
These services give airport IT leaders greater visibility into device activity, configuration drift, and access patterns across the network while allowing internal teams to focus on operational continuity.
The Impact
- Our support helps meet TSA cybersecurity mandates and audit readiness with formal documentation and evidence of control implementation
- Reduces ransomware risk through continuous monitoring, threat detection, and automated patching workflows.
- Improves uptime and operational continuity for flight-critical systems, including baggage handling and terminal access control.
- Enhances collaboration between internal teams and external vendors through segmented, monitored access controls.
- Increases inventory control over connected devices and systems, improving long-term infrastructure management.
- Reduces internal workload by offloading Tier 1 and Tier 2 monitoring and remediation tasks to MGT’s team.
Why Partner with us?
Airports that implement managed IT services strengthen their resilience to growing cyber threats while maintaining operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. MGT’s customizable support model ensures aviation organizations meet federal standards, secure complex IT/OT environments, and reduce the burden on internal IT staff. By bridging capability gaps and enhancing 24×7 oversight, MGT supports airports in creating a more secure and seamless travel experience.
Want to hear about our efforts with real agencies like yours? Check out how our partnerships help enable Houston Airports and Rhode Island Airport.
