Users of Yuri Gagarin International Airport, in the Russian city of Saratov, were surprised by an uncommon screening. Data protection experts reported that a hacker group would have infiltrated the airport systems to display a pornographic film on the screens of one of the airport men’s bathrooms. The explicit material was projected on a set of screens for advertising.
The incident was even witnessed by Mikhail Koklyaev, a renowned Russian athlete, who was amused by the incident in an interview with local media. “Someone could tell us what’s wrong with that screen?” the athlete jokingly said.
Gagarin Airport data protection team mentioned that these screens are operated by a third-party company, so they are not connected to the airport’s computer systems. “Those responsible for this incident may have only acted for fun,” an airport representative said. The airport administration decided to remove the bathroom screens until the company providing this service ensures the integrity of its systems.
Apparently, hackers connected via WiFi to the screens to take control of them and start broadcasting the pornographic content, which consisted of scenes from the adult film “Big Secretary”.
A subsequent investigation revealed that at least 11 people were in the bathroom where this happened at the time of the incident. Eight of these people claimed to know nothing about the alleged hacking. The remaining three people were unable to verify that they were at the airport as passengers, so authorities have found them suspected of the incident.
Recently there have been reports where an unknown threat actor compromises the systems that control these screens to display altered content, usually pornography. A few days ago, data protection experts from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) reported that a hacker group altered the transmission of screens from a popular sports store in New Zealand.
A similar incident occurred in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where an electronic billboard began showing content related to the popular adult site PornHub. Although in most cases the authorities claim that these are human errors, experts claim that these are demonstrations of the capabilities of some hackers.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
