Hackers hijack airport public-address systems to broadcast messages to Hamas

Pro-Palestinian hackers breached public-address systems at four airports in the United States and Canada, broadcasting messages supporting Hamas and messages against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump. The incidents occurred on Tuesday and led to temporary closures of the terminals and broad security investigations.

Passengers at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania recorded the unusual announcement heard over the public-address system. The announcement included harsh language directed at Trump and Netanyahu. Similar incidents were reported at three Canadian sites – in Kelowna and Victoria in British Columbia, and in Windsor, Ontario.

A message at the Pennsylvania airport reportedly said, among other things: ” Netanyahu, Trump, Free Palestine”. The message ended with the phrase: “The Turkish hacker Cyber Islam was here”. The messages were broadcast repeatedly for ten minutes until the public-address system was cut off. An airport spokesperson said the message did not contain direct threats, but its content caused panic and confusion among passengers.

Scott Miller, a spokesman for Harrisburg Airport, said a “user unauthorised to access the system managed to reach the public-address system and play an unauthorised audio recording.” He added that “the messages were political only and did not include direct threats. The system was disconnected immediately, and police have opened an investigation.” He noted that at the time of the incident one flight was about to board; the aircraft was inspected over concerns of a wider breach, no security issues were found, and the flight departed as scheduled.

Similar incidents were reported in Canada: at Kelowna Airport, flight-information screens and the public-address system were breached. In videos documenting the incident posted on social media, chants of “Free Palestine” and messages supporting Hamas were heard.