Authorities in Canada and the United States are investigating a coordinated cyberattack that disrupted public address systems at four airports on Tuesday, where hackers broadcast messages praising Hamas and criticising former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Three Canadian airports — Kelowna International, Victoria International, and Windsor International — and one U.S. airport, Harrisburg International in Pennsylvania, were affected by the breach, officials confirmed.
In British Columbia, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Kelowna International Airport’s “advertisement streaming service” was briefly compromised, allowing unauthorised content to be shared over its public speakers. The RCMP said it is working with other agencies to investigate the intrusion and declined to release further details.
At Victoria International Airport, a spokesperson said hackers accessed the public address system through third-party software, using it to play messages in a foreign language and broadcast music. “The airport switched to its internal system to regain control,” the spokesperson said, adding that operations were not significantly affected. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is supporting the RCMP and airport staff in the investigation.
In Ontario, Windsor International Airport confirmed that its flight information display screens and PA system were also hijacked on Tuesday evening. Hackers displayed “unauthorised images and announcements” after breaching a cloud-based software provider used by the airport. “Our systems returned to normal shortly thereafter,” the airport said in a statement.
In the United States, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that hackers similarly compromised the PA system at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airport officials have launched an investigation, though the FAA has not yet commented publicly on the incident.
The affected airports are relatively small regional hubs, serving far fewer passengers than major international gateways. Kelowna, the busiest of the four, handled just over 2 million passengers in 2024 — compared to more than 25 million at Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia’s primary airport.
Cybersecurity experts said the coordinated nature of the incident suggests the attackers may have exploited a common third-party vendor system used by multiple airports, a growing concern in the aviation sector’s digital infrastructure.
Authorities have not attributed the hack to any group, but the politically charged messages have raised concerns about foreign-linked influence campaigns and the vulnerability of public systems to manipulation.
Officials in both countries said no flight operations were affected, but the event underscores the risks posed by cyber intrusions into critical transportation infrastructure.
