Hackers breach airport PA systems in US, Canada to play pro-Palestine messages: Reports

According to videos shared on social media by travellers, an unauthorised recording calling for “Free Palestine” was played over the loudspeakers at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania earlier this week.

Similar incidents were reported at Kelowna International Airport and Victoria International Airport in British Columbia, as well as Windsor International Airport in Ontario, CNN reported.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy condemned the incidents, calling them “absolutely unacceptable.”

“This is absolutely unacceptable and understandably scared travelers,” Duffy said on X (formerly Twitter).

“The @FAANews and I are coordinating with @FlyHIA to help get to the bottom of this hack.”

At Harrisburg airport, “an unauthorized user gained access to the airport PA system and played an unauthorized recorded message,” airport spokesperson Scott Miller told CNN affiliate WGAL.

“The message was political in nature and did not contain any threats against the airport, our tenants, airlines, or passengers. The PA system was shut off, and the incident is under investigation by police,” Miller added.

One traveller, Glen Brown, told CNN that the message left him “confused.”

“You had to do a double-take and ask yourself if what you were hearing was actually real,” he said. “The real question I have is, if they can hack the paging system in an international airport, what else are they tunneling into?”

Transport Canada said it is working closely with federal security agencies and law enforcement “to ensure there were no impacts on the safety and security of airport operations, and to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The cyber breach occurred in the same week that Hamas released 20 Israeli nationals held in captivity since the October 7, 2023, attacks.