ABC 10 response to EAS hackers

To say it has been a busy news day at ABC 10 would be an understatement.

As soon as possible after the false message aired Monday night, ABC 10 put an authentic message at the bottom of the screen to clarify that the previous message was from an intruder.

We then posted information on our website, and we started trying to figure out what had happened.

ABC 10 has fielded phone calls and emails from news organizations across the U.P. and the country.

The story of the zombie apocalypse cyber breach is news for Marquette area radio, television and newspapers including Mlive.com, the Detroit Free Press, Reuters and CNN.

The hacker responsible for creating and airing the Emergency Alert System message on the air at ABC 10 and CW 5 Monday evening has been found. Details are not being released, but cyber technology experts call it a “back door” attack.

At about 8:36 Monday night, a message scrolled along the bottom of the TV screen saying a civil alert has been issued for a number of counties. The audio – that interfered with the current programming –told viewers that the dead are rising from their graves and attacking people.

The same scenario played out at Northern Michigan University’s Public TV 13 and at TV stations in Montana and California.

As far as ABC 10 can tell, nothing like this has happened before. Local, state and federal law enforcement and cyber security officials are investigating the incident and to prevent any further incidents at other media outlets.

The security of the EAS equipment is in question, not the security or protocol of the stations involved.