The Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau has just issued a security-related notice. The reason? The recent spate of radio station takeovers by hackers—most notably on Inauguration Day, when stations in Louisville, Nashville and San Angelo were hijacked and played “FDT (F*** Donald Trump”).
“It has come to our attention that unauthorized persons recently may have illegally gained access to certain audio streaming devices used by broadcasters, and may have transmitted potentially offensive or indecent material to the public,” the notice reads. “We believe that the reported cases involved unauthorized access to equipment manufactured by Barix, which some licensed broadcasters use for studio-to transmitter (STL), remote broadcast (Remote) and similar audio connections. We understand that the unauthorized access to the devices may be due, in part, to instances where the licensee fails to set a password for devices with no default password, or to reset default passwords on the Barix device.”
The notice urges broadcasters to take precautions to prevent any unauthorized broadcasts or transmissions. “We strongly encourage licensees that use Barix devices, as well as other transmitting equipment, to check and, if necessary, add a password, or reset existing passwords with new, robust passwords.” The Bureau also reminded stations to create new passwords for the equipment if any staff turnover takes place, resulting in the dismissal of an employee with access to such passwords.
“We also recommend that broadcasters investigate whether additional data security measures, such as firewalls or VPNs configured to prevent remote management access from other than authorized devices, in some cases, could be implemented to preserve this potentially critical part of the broadcast transmission chain,” the notice continued.
The FCC also says those who suspect there may have been an equipment breach or an attempt at unauthorized access should contact the equipment manufacturer and/or data security firm and notify the FCC Operations Bureau.
Source:
http://www.insideradio.com/free/fcc-issues-warning-after-f-trump-takeovers/article_dde51e56-ed06-11e6-8dad-f7de054336e1.html
Topic: FCC Issues Warning After ‘F*** TRUMP’ Takeovers (Read 1473 times)
