Airport PA Systems Hacked with Political Messages

Flights faced some delays after hackers accessed the public address systems at two airports in North America, broadcasting pro-Palestinian messages that praised Hamas while criticizing leaders like former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reports indicate that the disturbing messages were played at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania and Kelowna International Airport in British Columbia, Canada. Local media in Pennsylvania shared parts of the announcement, omitting any offensive language that had been aired.

“At the time of the incident, there was one flight on the tarmac,” stated a spokesperson for Harrisburg Airport. “We thoroughly searched the aircraft and found no safety threats, allowing the plane to take off without issue.” He added that while the messages were political, they did not include any direct threats to passengers or airport operations. The public address system has since been disabled, and law enforcement is investigating the matter.

Simultaneously, a similar episode unfolded at Kelowna International Airport, which is located over 3,000 miles away, leading to some temporary flight delays, according to CBC News. The airport’s operations director mentioned that pro-Palestinian content also appeared on in-flight display screens there.

Incidents like these raise significant concerns for the airline sector. Just last June, a cybercriminal group managed to breach the computer networks of various airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, there was a previous cyberattack that disrupted check-in and boarding systems at several major European airports, causing delays. Airport officials, however, are still piecing together how hackers managed to infiltrate these systems.

“We’re collaborating with service providers to understand how these messages appeared on our screens and PA systems,” the Kelowna director, Elchitz, noted. “We certainly aim to address existing security vulnerabilities to prevent a recurrence of this type of event.”