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'You are a pig Trump': Hackers breach several airports in US, Canada; pro-Hamas messages flashed

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Flyers at one US and three Canadian airports were startled after the public address systems were hacked and broadcast messages praising Hamas and criticising President Donald Trump .

According to a report from the New York Times, the disruptions affected flight information display screens, sparking concern across the United States and Canada.

Airports affected

The cyberattacks occured at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, Windsor International Airport in Ontario, and Kelowna and Victoria International Airports in British Columbia.

Several travellers at the Harrisburg airport shared videos online that captured a woman saying, "Free Palestine" and using an expletive to criticise both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Turkish hacker Cyber Islam was here," the voice was heard.


Authorities respond

The cyberattack at airports was criticised by US transportation secretary Sean Duffy on social media, calling it "absolutely unacceptable." Duffy said that he is working with the federal aviation administration and Harrisburg airp ort authorities to investigate.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Transport Canada asserted that it is investigating the matter and working with law enforcement to ensure there are no impacts on operational safety or security.

Minimal disruption, but cyber concerns rise

According to the report of NYT, officials claimed that the overall disruption after the cyberattack was minimal. At Harrisburg, one plane boarding during the hack was searched, but no security threats were found, according to airport spokesman Scott Miller.

Canadian airports faced more sophisticated hacks as the flight information display screens showed pro-Hamas messages. At Kelowna International Airport, a screen displayed the message: "Israel lost the war, Hamas won the war honourably," a video of which was shared online and confirmed by the airport.

The airport said the incident was traced to "a cloud-based, third-party software provider" and that the unauthorised messages were removed within minutes.
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