FBI Warns Airlines and Insurers as Scattered Spider Ransomware Attacks Surge

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sounds the alarm on cybersecurity, organizations should take immediate notice. The latest urgent warning involves the notorious Scattered Spider group, which has already made headlines for attacking major retailers such as Marks & Spencer in the U.K.—a breach estimated to have cost the company upwards of $600 million.

According to the FBI, this cybercriminal organization is now turning its focus to the airline sector, targeting companies both directly and by infiltrating their supply chains. A recent June 26 report by Halcyon ransomware analysts indicated Scattered Spider had expanded operations into the Food, Manufacturing, and Transportation sectors, especially Aviation. The FBI confirmed this, stating via email:

“The FBI has recently observed the cybercriminal group Scattered Spider expanding its targeting to include the airline sector.”

The agency also posted this statement on X, formerly Twitter, highlighting that the attackers use consistent tactics—namely social engineering. Scattered Spider often impersonates employees or contractors to manipulate IT help desks into granting unauthorized access. Their ultimate goal is to sidestep multi-factor authentication (MFA) by convincing support staff to register fraudulent MFA devices to compromised accounts.

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