MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (WHTM) – An incident where an unauthorized user gained access to Harrisburg International Airport’s public address system could have been much worse, a security expert said.
Police at the Pennsylvania airport are investigating after someone breached the system and played a pre-recorded message Tuesday evening.
In a recording that captured the incident, a computer-generated voice reads off a list of hackers claiming responsibility for the takeover of the system before stating, “[Expletive] Netanyahu and Trump,” an apparent reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump. (A portion of the message can be heard at Nexstar’s WHTM.)
“If this had been someone with more nefarious intentions, this would have been much worse,” said John Sancenito, president of Information Network Associates Incorporated, an investigative service and security solutions provider. “In this particular case, they chose a political message, but they could have actually instilled widespread panic by claiming that there was some kind of bomb on the plane or by forcing an evacuation, a panic evacuation. The situation could have been much worse.”
The incident caused security to search a boarding Delta flight. However, operations at the airport continued normally after the incident.
Still, many passengers and employees were left worried and confused.
“I think this should be a wake-up call more than a panic situation,” Sancenito said. “I don’t believe that there’s any reason for people to be overly alarmed at this. This was a very unsophisticated type of cyber attack or penetration attack on the network systems.”
He added that it comes down to taking basic cybersecurity measures, such as using strong passwords and requiring multi-factor authentication on systems connected to the internet.
Airport spokesperson Scott Miller said police are working to figure out what happened. Similar incidents also occurred at several airports in Canada, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last week, Israel approved Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the remaining hostages held by Hamas, a key step toward ending the two-year war that has destabilized the Middle East.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.