Pro-Hamas messages broadcast at two North American airports following apparent cyber breaches
Harrisburg International Airport is seen on October 4
By Martin Goillandeau, CNN
(CNN) — Unauthorized pro-Palestinian political messages praising Hamas and attacking President Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister were broadcast through public address systems at two airports in North America on Tuesday, disrupting operations and sparking investigations into the apparent hacks.
Videos posted by passengers on social media show the unauthorized recordings played at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania and Kelowna International Airport in British Columbia, Canada.
The pro-Hamas recordings and messages praise Hamas and, using expletives, are critical of the Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The breaches come as the air travel industry has been dealing with an onslaught of cyberattacks that have caused disruptions for customers and ground some of the world’s largest airports to a halt. In June, a notorious cybercriminal group breached the computer networks of multiple airlines in the US and Canada, according to the FBI. And last month, hackers knocked out a passenger check-in system, causing long delays, cancellations and chaos at airports across Europe.
At the Harrisburg airport Tuesday, “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,” the statement from Miller added.
CNN reached out to the Harrisburg International Airport Police Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration for comment.
During the incident, one flight was in the process of boarding, Miller said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the aircraft was searched. No security issues were found, and the flight departed safely,” the statement added.
Around the same time, more than 2,000 miles away, Kelowna International Airport reported a similar incident.
In a statement shared with CNN, the airport said a third party accessed both its flight information display screens and public address system.
“We are experiencing some delayed flights,” the release read.
“Free Palestine,” and pro-Palestinian chants could be heard in a video posted by a passenger on social media who told CNN: “Nobody informed us what was going on, there was no crisis response. Everyone was just really confused.”
Several messages praising Hamas were also broadcast on a screen inside Kelowna airport, according to multiple photos shared on social media.
Kelowna airport officials said the unauthorized messages were removed and flight display systems restored, adding efforts to fully restore the PA system were ongoing.
CNN reached out to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Transport Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Kelowna for more information.
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