Cyber Incident Victim: Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation
Date:
Mar 2014
Location:
Malaysia
Summary
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared during a scheduled international passenger flight after losing contact with air traffic control, subsequently deviating westward from its planned route and ceasing radar detection over the Indian Ocean. Despite extensive multinational search efforts—including underwater operations in the southern Indian Ocean—the primary wreckage remains unrecovered, though confirmed debris later washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean. Investigations explored scenarios such as hypoxia events, hijacking, and crew involvement but yielded no conclusive cause, prompting aviation safety enhancements including extended flight recorder battery life and improved aircraft tracking standards.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 8 March 2014 at 00:41 local time, bound for Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members aboard. Air traffic control lost contact less than an hour after takeoff when the Boeing 777-200ER disappeared from secondary radar over the South China Sea at 01:22 MYT. Military radar tracked the aircraft deviating sharply westward across the Malay Peninsula, continuing over the Andaman Sea until leaving radar range at 02:22 MYT. Satellite communications revealed seven automated handshakes with Inmarsat, indicating the plane flew south for nearly six hours until fuel exhaustion, with the final transmission at 08:19 MYT suggesting electrical system reactivation before cessation. Initial multinational search efforts focused on the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea before expanding to the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea, eventually shifting to the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite data analysis.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau coordinated an extensive underwater search spanning 120,000 km² of seabed southwest of Perth from October 2014 to January 2017, utilizing advanced sonar and autonomous vehicles but finding no wreckage. Between 2015-2018, 20 pieces of confirmed debris washed ashore across Réunion, Mozambique, South Africa, and Mauritius, including a flaperon identified through serial numbers and horizontal stabilizer components. Forensic analysis indicated uncontrolled descent with flaps retracted. Malaysia's July 2018 final investigation report confirmed manual diversion from course but remained inconclusive regarding causes, noting air traffic control failures and recommending cockpit recorder duration extensions. Cybersecurity Malaysia reported in August 2014 that hackers infiltrated investigators' computers, exfiltrating data to an address in China before countermeasures halted transmissions. The Joint Agency Coordination Centre suspended official searches in January 2017 after costing $155 million, though private contractor Ocean Infinity conducted additional scanning until June 2018 covering 112,000 km² without success. Operational changes implemented post-incident included extended underwater locator beacon battery life, satellite tracking standards, and flight recorder recovery protocols.