How cyber attacks could affect cruises and personal plans?

I don’t know what news you watch but my local and the ABC nightly news that I watch is full of stories of bad things happening to people and the world (hence doom and gloom). There’s usually only one or two good news stories mixed in.
46 years Producing newscasts, retired 7 months now. The research done now days is amazing. Your cable box, satellite box, streaming service and Internet provider all sell the information on what people watch and what you turn off. People say ONE thing, but when it comes time to watch or read the news, do something else. What you are seeing is what people like you actually watch.
Funny thing is the two most common complaints about news are:
1)You cover too many fires and crashes
2)You didn't cover the fire or crash in my neighborhood.
 
That book is riveting. I read it about 10 years ago when I was more care free and optimistic about life & there were no major conflicts (or a pandemic) going on... I couldn't read it today, it's that upsetting.
I wouldn't suggest it to ppl prone to depression or mood swings.

Definitely opened my eyes!

MJ
 
This happened to me in 2001. I was on holiday in New York when the planes hit and I was stranded for 5 days. September 11 was supposed to be my last day in New York, we had checked out of our hotel and we due to go to JFK in the afternoon for an evening flight back to Europe.

Our phones did not work and we had no internet access. My family sent money through Western Union and contacted my credit card to get an emergency extension. I managed to get the room we had checked out of back, as on September 11 , the island of Manhattan was sealed off and no one could get in. I also went to the Irish Embassy in New York and made sure I was registered as a foreign national in New York.

When something major happens, like a terrorist attack and you get caught in the middle as a tourist, you just cope and deal with it. One thing I learnt is that things will happen when you travel , things that you can't plan for and have no control over. Stressing about the what if and oh god, maybe that will happen does no good. You have to just live and do and if things happen, they happen and you will find a way to deal with it.
I’m so sorry you went through this. That must have been terrible in so many ways.
Your trip is kinda what I’m trying to consider since hackers could close so many normal businesses. So what did you wish you had with you? (Money, paper maps, ??)Especially knowing what you know now and having gone through it.

When things/businesses go down hind sight is always 20/20 right?

They did cause a problem-they shut down the Colonial Pipeline-for 6 days. Serious. Hackers shutdown Kronos-a payroll system. it has been shutdown for weeks. This is what worries me the most. The cyberattacks. They can be very disruptive. From flights, to banking and energy systems. I think this situation bears carefully monitoring. I am positive Disney is watching carefully as well. No need to panic or endlessly worry, but to be aware that this is something that could be possible. And pray for the people of Ukraine. Who just want to live their lives in peace.
Thank you for seeing my actual question! Because that is exactly what I’m looking to answer! It’s so pointless when people try to twist a post. I’m hopeful more actual suggestions are coming.

TVGuy When I was younger I thought any given day I could be shot. I live right between Chicago and Milwaukee. And that was the news back then “If it bleeds, it leads” so took a while to get perspective. Feel-good-stories hadn’t even come out yet back then. I think that was its own movement.
 
I’m so sorry you went through this. That must have been terrible in so many ways.
Your trip is kinda what I’m trying to consider since hackers could close so many normal businesses. So what did you wish you had with you? (Money, paper maps, ??)Especially knowing what you know now and having gone through it.

We did what we could we the resources we had. At that time, European phones did not work in America, USA cell phones were triband and European were duel band. We knew this but had no way to buy an American cell phone before our holiday. The only thing I would have done different would have been to make contact with my family sooner than I did. It took far longer than expected, nearly 5 hours to get sorted at the hotel and get our original room back. It was chaos in the hotel lobby but we had made ourselves known to the hotel staff and didnt want to move from that spot until we knew we had somewhere safe to stay the night. Once we knew we had the room back , we then realized how long it took and that we needed to ring home and let them know we were safe. I guess we were in so much shock that we didnt feel the time pass.

One thing I always do now, is write up a page of all my details, a rough outline of my planned days, my flight details, the names and details of the hotels etc and leave it with family in Ireland. I also give them a copy of my passport and my travel insurance policy. I take a photocopy of my passport and a print out of my travel policy with me. I also print out every hotel confirmation, flight details, and transport details.
 

if that kind of extensive cyber attack occurs, you won't be able to go anywhere that isn't reachable by walking, there won't be any phone calls, and there won't be any immediate way to purchase anything even with cash.
 
From a travel perspective, if all computer reservation systems that the airlines work on (SABRE, Pegasus, etc.), are attacked, that wreaks havoc on the aviation side for flights on the ground. These systems occasionally glitch or go down for short periods of time due to technical issues and the nightmare for getting people back in the air was considerable.
 
Want to know what could happen with an EMP hit check out the book One Second After. I read it and was horrified. Its fiction but certainly could happen. We think we live in a civilized world but it only takes a few days without our creature comforts and basic needs to turn us into barbarians. I always chuckled at Doomsday Preppers but now can certainly see their point!

A post-apocalyptic thriller of the after effects in the United States after a terrifying terrorist attack using electromagnetic pulse weapons.

New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.

Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end.
I haven't been able to find any apocalyptic movies revolving around cyber attacks. At least not A-rated movies... strange to say the least. Most apocalyptic movies involve zombies, natural disasters, viruses, and aliens. I have a family member that works in national security and they've always told me an EMP is the scariest thing that can happen. The book may have been fiction but the weapon is real and it's not just a weapon the US has. It would send us back to the dark ages.
 
I haven't been able to find any apocalyptic movies revolving around cyber attacks. At least not A-rated movies... strange to say the least. Most apocalyptic movies involve zombies, natural disasters, viruses, and aliens. I have a family member that works in national security and they've always told me an EMP is the scariest thing that can happen. The book may have been fiction but the weapon is real and it's not just a weapon the US has. It would send us back to the dark ages.
Battlestar Galactica - first two episodes. Or Terminator 3.

EMP is mostly localized. Nuclear codes know no boundaries.
 
I was thinking our whole country would NOT fall apart, maybe just a facet or two might have a short term issue. I absolutely wasn’t thinking full on dark side! Just more of glitch here and there. If we are living in a book-to-movie-deal-life we would not be sailing.



Of course it could happen, but I’m going to figure that the government has a plan and problems will be cut off at the pass and others will be short lived.

I’m going to ignore the whole EMP thing and figure that’s for movies and a problem for the UN to wrangle in the future.

So far….I’m going to go old school and print copies of every document, transfer and hotel for my parents and husband while we are gone. BadPinkTink should I consider a phone purchase in Spain before I get to Italy?
 
Although I have no idea what I would do if I was stranded in Italy trying to get back to the US because of flight problems.
Read the book 'The day the world came to town' by Jim Defede. It's a memoir of exactly that scenario, of how a small town with few amenities hosted all the planes that crossed the Atlantic, but were not allowed into the US following 9/11. So they had to land at a little used airport, designed for small planes that needed to refuel after crossing the atlantic before carrying on. All the airport runways were completely filled, at the end - not even one more could be parked.

There's also a documentary about the ATC (Airport Controllers) at the Gander airport, talking about just how the little used airport managed to park all those airplanes on the ground. It's called 9/11: Cleared for Take Off, and it is quite gripping for a documentary. If you have Discovery channel, you might be able to find it in the on demand section. But I'm canadian, so YMMV
 
BadPinkTink should I consider a phone purchase in Spain before I get to Italy?

There are a lot more options now than in 2001 :)

I now buy a USA SIM card for use when I am in USA. However this is mainly for data for when I'm in Disneyland California so that I can use the App and mobile ordering.

The USA SIM card does not have international text or call, so I use WhatsAp to message and call home. Here in Europe WhatsAp is used by a lot of people as its internet based calls and texts which are free. Its owned by Facebook / Meta but you don't have to have Facebook or Instagram to use it.

You can check with your USA cell provider, they might have a data roaming package you can add on.

If you are thinking about an European SIM card, you need to make sure you have an unlocked phone. This means that your phone is not locked to a specific cell network. You should also check that it has international calls and texts, but most European SIM cards do as standard.

Unlike back in 2001, European phones now work in USA, so you don't need to get a new phone , just check options about SIM cards :)
 
I was thinking our whole country would NOT fall apart, maybe just a facet or two might have a short term issue. I absolutely wasn’t thinking full on dark side! Just more of glitch here and there. If we are living in a book-to-movie-deal-life we would not be sailing.



Of course it could happen, but I’m going to figure that the government has a plan and problems will be cut off at the pass and others will be short lived.

I’m going to ignore the whole EMP thing and figure that’s for movies and a problem for the UN to wrangle in the future.

So far….I’m going to go old school and print copies of every document, transfer and hotel for my parents and husband while we are gone. BadPinkTink should I consider a phone purchase in Spain before I get to Italy?
Little glitches as you put it happen everyday. I don’t think that is anything you need to prepare for. I would just go and enjoy your trip and not worry about. If Putin retaliates with a cyber attack its going to be more than a little glitch.

There’s really not much you can do about it. One thing I wouldn’t do is depend on the government to take care of you or even have a plan. I guess in the US were more accustomed to large natural disasters of every kind.Things can become pretty chaotic and unsafe in large cities when the power goes out and you are pretty much on your own.
 
If Putin retaliates with a cyber attack its going to be more than a little glitch.

There’s really not much you can do about it. One thing I wouldn’t do is depend on the government to take care of you or even have a plan. I guess in the US were more accustomed to large natural disasters of every kind. Things can become pretty chaotic and unsafe in large cities when the power goes out and you are pretty much on your own.
Russian state-sponsored cyber attacks are literally daily occurrence ... they just rarely rise to the point at which they become visible to people who don't work in cybersecurity. We're not talking about EMPs here--if Russia deploys an EMP then we're talking about full-scale war on US soil so at that point cruising is the least of our worries--but more medium-scale disruptions are entirely within the realm of possibility and unlikely to trigger WW3-like escalations. For example, the EU voted today to restrict Russia's access to the SWIFT network so it would be plausible that Russia would choose to disrupt US or global banking operations as a targeted like-for-like retaliation.

I'm generally with you that there isn't a whole lot that one can or should do to prepare, but it may be worth contemplating what things would be like if you couldn't do any sort of electronic banking for a week (no credit cards, no ATMs, etc.), or if airlines were effectively grounded for a week, or if you lost grid power for a week. A bit of preparation might make those things a whole lot less stressful in the small chance that they do happen to come to pass.
 
Russian state-sponsored cyber attacks are literally daily occurrence ... they just rarely rise to the point at which they become visible to people who don't work in cybersecurity. We're not talking about EMPs here--if Russia deploys an EMP then we're talking about full-scale war on US soil so at that point cruising is the least of our worries--but more medium-scale disruptions are entirely within the realm of possibility and unlikely to trigger WW3-like escalations. For example, the EU voted today to restrict Russia's access to the SWIFT network so it would be plausible that Russia would choose to disrupt US or global banking operations as a targeted like-for-like retaliation.

I'm generally with you that there isn't a whole lot that one can or should do to prepare, but it may be worth contemplating what things would be like if you couldn't do any sort of electronic banking for a week (no credit cards, no ATMs, etc.), or if airlines were effectively grounded for a week, or if you lost grid power for a week. A bit of preparation might make those things a whole lot less stressful in the small chance that they do happen to come to pass.
Id say the circumstances are different then let’s say a week ago. I have no idea what either side is capable of. Its already escalated more than I thought it would and were only on day 3.
 
Read the book 'The day the world came to town' by Jim Defede. It's a memoir of exactly that scenario, of how a small town with few amenities hosted all the planes that crossed the Atlantic, but were not allowed into the US following 9/11. So they had to land at a little used airport, designed for small planes that needed to refuel after crossing the atlantic before carrying on. All the airport runways were completely filled, at the end - not even one more could be parked.

There's also a documentary about the ATC (Airport Controllers) at the Gander airport, talking about just how the little used airport managed to park all those airplanes on the ground. It's called 9/11: Cleared for Take Off, and it is quite gripping for a documentary. If you have Discovery channel, you might be able to find it in the on demand section. But I'm canadian, so YMMV
They also made a Broadway theater show about it called “Come from Away”. It’s a fabulous show and amazing how that whole town came together to help all the stranded airplane passengers.
We have been through several hurricanes where we have been without power for days and it’s amazing how all the neighbors come together to help each other out. I like to hope that if things were to get bad the best of humanity will shine through.
 
They also made a Broadway theater show about it called “Come from Away”. It’s a fabulous show and amazing how that whole town came together to help all the stranded airplane passengers.
We have been through several hurricanes where we have been without power for days and it’s amazing how all the neighbors come together to help each other out. I like to hope that if things were to get bad the best of humanity will shine through.
I think it goes without saying that that scenario would depend on where you live.
 
They also made a Broadway theater show about it called “Come from Away”. It’s a fabulous show and amazing how that whole town came together to help all the stranded airplane passengers.
We have been through several hurricanes where we have been without power for days and it’s amazing how all the neighbors come together to help each other out. I like to hope that if things were to get bad the best of humanity will shine through.
I had the opportunity to see the touring production of this show in 2019. So good! Definitely see it if you have the chance.
 

GET UP TO A $1000 SHIPBOARD CREDIT AND AN EXCLUSIVE GIFT!

If you make your Disney Cruise Line reservation with Dreams Unlimited Travel you’ll receive these incredible shipboard credits to spend on your cruise!






















New Posts







DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Back
Top