Friday, November 28, 2025

FCC sounds alarm ... emergency tones became potty-mouthed

Malicious intruders have hijacked US radio gear to turn emergency broadcast tones into a profanity-laced alarm system.

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More from the article ...

... That's according to the latest warning issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has flagged a "recent string of cyber intrusions" that diverted studio-to-transmitter links (STLs) so attackers could replace legitimate programming with their own audio " complete with the signature "Attention Signal" tone of the domestic Emergency Alert System (EAS).

According to the alert, the intrusions exploited unsecured broadcasting equipment, notably devices manufactured by Swiss firm Barix, which were reconfigured to stream attacker-controlled audio instead of station output. That stream included either real or simulated EAS alert tones, followed by obscene language or other offensive content.

Stations in Texas and Virginia have already reported incidents, including one during a live sports broadcast and another on a public radio affiliate's backup stream.

The HTX Media radio station in Houston confirmed it had fallen victim to hijackers in a post on Facebook, saying: "We've received multiple reports that 97.5 FM (ESPN Houston) has been hijacked and is currently broadcasting explicit and highly offensive content... The station appears to be looping a repeated audio stream that includes an Emergency Alert System (EAS) tone before playing an extremely vulgar track." ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-28 12:04 AM

They'd do something about it, but DOGE fired all their cyber security people.

#2 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-11-28 01:12 AM

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