"Imagine shutting down the government and realizing you forgot to pay cybersecurity."

Pro-Palestinian hackers took control of public address systems and display screens at four North American airports on Tuesday, October 15, 2025, broadcasting unauthorized political messages critical of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu[1].

The breach affected Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania and three Canadian airports - Kelowna International, Victoria International, and Windsor International[1:1]. Messages included “Free Palestine” chants and proclamations that “Israel lost the war, Hamas won the war honorably”[2].

“This is absolutely unacceptable and understandably scared travelers,” said US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy[1:2]. The airports quickly shut down affected systems and searched aircraft out of caution, though no security threats were found[1:3].

The hack targeted cloud-based audio and display systems through a software provider[3]. “Nobody informed us what was going on, there was no crisis response. Everyone was just really confused,” one Kelowna passenger told CNN[1:4].

The incidents come amid rising cybersecurity concerns in aviation. In June 2025, criminal groups breached multiple airline networks, while September saw hackers disable European airport check-in systems[1:5][4].

  1. CNN - Apparent hackers take over PA systems at 4 North American airports ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Daily Dot - Airports across North America hacked to play pro-Palestine, anti-Trump messages ↩︎

  3. NY Post - Pro-Hamas hackers hijack airport loudspeakers across North America ↩︎

  4. AOL - Heathrow and major European airports suffer fourth day of disruption after cyber attack ↩︎

  • folaht@lemmy.ml
    8·
    1 day ago

    The US response (media/police/even some of the public) to anything in protest is the most authoritarian response I have ever seen every single time, but I guess that’s understandable when you’re busy fully supporting a genocide and about half a dozen regime changes attempts per year.

    “This is absolutely unacceptable and understandably scared travelers,” said US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy[1:2]. The airports quickly shut down affected systems and searched aircraft out of caution, though no security threats were found[1:3].

    Does the computer in your living room get hacked? Check for explosives your basement!
    And while we’re at it…

    The hack targeted cloud-based audio and display systems through a software provider[3]. “Nobody informed us what was going on, there was no crisis response. Everyone was just really confused,” one Kelowna passenger told CNN[1:4].

    bring in the guns!
    Let’s have an army of ICE goons walk in next time and have them shoot random passengers
    who may look like they could be part of the terrorist hackers!