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Two B.C. airports say their public address and flight information displays systems were hacked by a third party Tuesday evening.
Kelowna International Airport and Victoria International Airport confirmed the incidents in emailed statements. Transport Canada said it was aware of those hacks, along with another incident at Windsor International Airport.
“Transport Canada is working closely with federal security partners, including law enforcement, to ensure there were no impacts on the safety and security of airport operations and to mitigate disruption from similar incidents in the future,” a statement from the federal agency read.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said it is aware of the incidents.
In a news release issued Wednesday, the Kelowna International Airport says it is investigating the incident alongside Transport Canada and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Several social media users said they saw and heard pro-Hamas and anti-Trump messages at the airport in B.C.’s Okanagan.
Phillip Elchitz, the airport’s director of operations and innovation, told CBC News “a third party gained access” to the flight information display system at the airport and the PA system in the terminal building.
He said a message “that had some profanities and it was related to the situation in Gaza” was broadcast over the PA system.
“It basically has some photos and some messaging in regards to, you know, President Trump and the prime minister of Israel and some photos basically of some people from Hamas.”
CBC News has reviewed a short excerpt of the PA announcement at the Kelowna airport on Tuesday night, which translates in part to “We pledge allegiance to Jerusalem. I swear to God.” The excerpt did not reference Trump or Hamas.
An image taken Tuesday at Kelowna International Airport, obtained by Castanet and shared with CBC News, shows a message displayed on a screen that reads “ISRAEL LOST THE WAR, HAMAS WON THE WAR HONORABLY You are a pig, Donald Trump.”
Elchitz said the PA system was fixed after around 20 seconds while it took a few minutes for the images to be removed from the displays.
He said a few flights were delayed at the airport, but things returned to normal on Tuesday night and they expected a full day of operations on Wednesday.
“We’re working with our service providers to better understand how these files ended up on these screens and on the PA system,” he told CBC News.
“And obviously we want to make sure that whatever security loopholes that existed within those systems are shut down completely so this doesn’t happen again.”
A spokesperson for Victoria International Airport wrote in an email that only its PA system was hacked. They said loudspeakers use a cloud-based external system “used by many airports worldwide.”
The spokesperson wrote that someone externally uploaded a “file containing unauthorized audio content” that played on the loudspeakers for “a few minutes.”
“Our operations team responded immediately and successfully stopped the broadcast,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “There were no operational disruptions, delays or cancellations.”
At least one hack was reported in the U.S. as well.
Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania confirmed to CBC News that an unauthorized user gained access to its PA system and played an unauthorized recorded message.
“The message was political in nature and did not contain any threats against the airport, our tenants, airlines, or passengers,” a spokesperson wrote of the incident. “The incident is being investigated by local, state, and federal officials.”
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