Hackers hijack Beirut airport departures and arrivals board • Graham Cluley

Electronic departure boards at Beirut Airport were hijacked by hackers on Sunday night, who used them to display anti-Iran and anti-Hezbollah messages.

A group calling itself “God and the People” claimed responsibility for the attack, displaying a message that translated to:

This is Rafik Hariri Airport, not Hezbollah and Iran Airport.

Hassan Nasrallah said that if Lebanon falls into war and you are responsible for the war and its consequences, you will not find helpers.

We don’t fight on behalf of anyone. You blew up our ports and now you want to blow up our airports because of the introduction of weapons. Free airports from state control.

Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of Lebanese Hezbollah.

Some passengers recorded the unusual scene on their smartphones and shared the footage on social media.

Lounge screen hack #beirut airport A logo appears on the screen #godsoldier Attached is a message #hezbollah pic.twitter.com/X2yhgJiGLR

— Aljadid News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) January 7, 2024

Although flights continue to leave the airport as scheduled, there is no doubt that this hack will inconvenience some people and cause some concern among passengers.

Meanwhile, Lebanese travelers reported receiving text messages on their phones purporting to be from Middle East Airlines (MEA) and asking them to “comply with the instructions of security authorities”.

The MEA said that while it would contact passengers via email and text messages in an emergency, it was not responsible for the messages sent to passengers’ mobile phones.

Regular readers will remember that this is not the first time hackers have attacked Tideboard.

In 2021, for example, hackers hijacked Iranian train station departure boards, warning of “long delays”[s] due to a cyberattack” and advised inconvenienced passengers to call a specific number for more information.

Who does this number belong to? The office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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