FCC Warning: Cyber Security Threat for Stations’ EAS Systems

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) of the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) issued a Public Notice reminding broadcasters of their responsibility to ensure the security of their broadcast networks and systems.  The Public Notice was in response to the recent string of cyber intrusions against various radio broadcasters that resulted in the broadcast of obscene materials and the misuse of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) Attention Signal.

According to the FCC:

“It appears that these recent hacks were caused by a compromised studio-transmitter link (STL)— the broadcast equipment that carries program content from the studio to remote transmitters—with threat actors often accessing improperly secured Barix equipment and reconfiguring it to receive attacker controlled audio in lieu of station programming. Affected stations broadcast to the public an attacker inserted audio stream that includes an actual or simulated Attention Signal and EAS alert tones, as well as obscene language, and other inappropriate material.”

This is a critical issue.  Make sure you have adequately protected your EAS systems. 

You can see the FCC’s Public Notice issued by the Public Safety Bureau with specific suggestions to address the problem here.