SEATTLE: Hackers seized control of public address systems at four North American airports on Tuesday.
Unauthorised broadcasts praised Hamas and criticised former President Donald Trump according to officials and news reports.
Three Canadian airports and one American facility experienced these security breaches.
Kelowna International Airport in British Columbia confirmed its advertisement streaming service was briefly compromised.
The Kelowna Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated unauthorised content was shared during the incident.
RCMP investigators are working with other agencies and declined to provide additional details.
Victoria International Airport’s spokesperson confirmed foreign language messages and music played over its PA system.
Hackers accessed that system through compromised third-party software according to airport officials.
The airport regained control by switching to an internal system after the breach.
Canada’s Centre for Cyber Security is assisting both the airport and RCMP with their investigation.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed a similar incident at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania.
Duffy announced the Federal Aviation Administration and airport officials are investigating that breach.
The FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the security incident.
Windsor International Airport in Ontario experienced breaches to both flight displays and its PA system.
Airport officials confirmed unauthorised images and announcements appeared Tuesday evening.
That breach affected a cloud-based software provider used by the Ontario airport.
Systems returned to normal operation shortly after the security incident according to an airport statement.
All four affected locations are smaller feeder airports rather than major international hubs.
Kelowna served just over 2 million passengers in 2024 as the busiest among the breached facilities.
Vancouver International Airport handled more than 25 million travelers during the same period. – Reuters
