Hackers breach four North American airports, broadcast anti-Israel messages
Investigators in Canada and US still searching for the group that broke into airport systems on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, British Columbia and Ontario
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In what seems to be a coordinated hack by anti-Israel activists, the public address and flight information displays systems in four airports around North America broadcast messages praising Hamas and denigrating US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Investigators have not yet identified the hackers, who claim to be a Turkish group called SiberIslam. Unauthorized messages were displayed at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, Kelowna International Airport and Victoria International Airport in British Columbia and Windsor International Airport in Ontario.
The cyberattack was carried out a day after Hamas returned the last 20 living hostages left in Gaza to Israel in a deal brokered by Trump, and came on the heels of several similar high-profile security breaches that have recently disrupted air travel around the world.
In September, cyberattacks targeting check-in and boarding systems disrupted air traffic and caused delays at several of Europe’s major airports. And in June, the FBI said a cybercriminal group successfully breached the computer networks of multiple airlines in the United States and Canada.
In Harrisburg, videos posted on social media show a computerized voice playing over the airport’s loudspeakers with the messages “Turkish hacker SiberIslam is here,” and “Free free Palestine,” along with profanity-laden references to Trump and Netanyahu.
Harrisburg spokesperson Scott Miller told local television network WGAL that the message did not include any threats against the airport, airlines or passengers.
Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania’s public address system hacked
“Fuck Netanyahu and Trump. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Turkish hacker cyber Islam was here.” pic.twitter.com/CPQlvOtGOi
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 15, 2025
“Out of an abundance of caution, the aircraft was searched. No security issues were found, and the flight departed safely,” Miller added.
The Federal Aviation Administration is working with the Harrisburg airport to investigate the hack, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X after the incident.
“This is absolutely unacceptable and understandably scared travelers,” Duffy said.
In Kelowna Airport, Arabic chants were played over the loudspeaker, and an image displayed on flight information screens said, “Israel lost the war, Hamas won the war honorably,” presumably in reference to the recent ceasefire agreement.
“You are a pig, Donald Trump,” read the image, which also credited SiberIslam for the hack.
The breach to the PA system was fixed after around 20 seconds, while it took several minutes for the images to be removed, local media reports said.
A statement published by Kelowna airport on Wednesday said the incident stemmed from a cloud-based third-party software provider, and that a risk assessment conducted afterwards found that there was no further threat to travelers.
The airport segregates different technology systems so that hackers can’t access multiple networks, it noted.
Similar incidents occurred at Canada’s Victoria International Airport and Windsor International Airport in Ontario.
Transport Canada, the government body in charge of transportation, is investigating the incidents along with the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity in Ottawa and the national police.
Yesterday, passengers and staff at Kelowna International Airport were left stunned, and flights were delayed, after flight information screens and the public address system were hijacked to display and broadcast pro-terror messages.
Canadians deserve to know how a hacker known… pic.twitter.com/DqI0OkEPBV
— B'nai Brith Canada (@bnaibrithcanada) October 16, 2025
Travelers and Jewish organizations said they were stunned by the security breaches and demanded that law enforcement agencies quickly find the perpetrators.
“Such a deeply disturbing incident cannot be ignored; it must serve as a wake-up call,” B’nai Brith Canada, which represents Canadian Jewry, said in a statement. “The minister of transportation must launch an investigation into how a foreign actor was able to gain control of the infrastructure at a Canadian airport and broadcast messages glorifying a listed terror entity.”
The incident is “yet another alarming example of the evolving threats to our national security posed by extremist supporters of terror,” B’nai Brith said.
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