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Hackers Take Over Unsecured Radio Transmitters, Play Anti-Trump Song (arstechnica.com)
Ars Technica is reporting that "a certain model of Low Power FM radio transmitter with known vulnerabilities has been targeted in a new wave of radio-station hacks this week." Hackers have taken advantage of an exploit that was known all the way back in April 2016 to take over terrestrial radio stations and broadcast the YG and Nipsey Hussle song "Fuck Donald Trump." From the report: News of the song's unexpected playback on radio stations began emerging shortly after Trump's inauguration on January 20, and the hack has continued to affect LPFM stations -- a type of smaller-radius radio station that began to roll out after the FCC approved the designation in 2000. Over a dozen stations experienced confirmed hacks in recent weeks, with more unconfirmed reports trickling in across the nation. Thus far, the stations' commonality isn't the states of operation or music formats; it's the transmitter. Specifically, hackers have targeted products in the Barix Exstreamer line, which can decode many audio file formats and send them along for LPFM transmission. As Barix told its products' owners in 2016, Exstreamer devices openly connected to the Internet are incredibly vulnerable to having their remote login passwords discovered and systems compromised. The company recommends using full, 24-character passwords and placing any live Internet connections behind firewalls or VPNs. Reports have yet to connect any dots on why the exploit has apparently focused on the YG and Nipsey Hussle song -- though it is fairly popular, having recently finished in the Top 15 of the Village Voice's 2016 Pazz and Jop music critics' poll. Plus, the uncensored lyrics and topical nature are certainly more likely to catch people's attention, especially when played on stations with formats like oldies, classic rock, and Tejano.
Honestly if you did not have a VPN tunnel in place you deserve this in spades. Only a complete and utter moron would have something as important as the radio station audio feed to be unprotected.
But after working at several radio stations in my life. 100% of radio station owners are pretty much drooling morons.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The reason there isn't much of a reaction in this case is that people expect hackers to do childish things once they've taken control of something, particularly because they're using other people's property to do so.
That, and, you know, playing something like "Fuck Obama" wouldn't necessarily have been as overtly racist as "Barak the Magic Negro".
And yet only one side is burning down buildings and beating the shit out of opposition supporters, and it ain't the right. Hillary's insult wasn't really "deplorable", it was "irredeemable". That means most of America is permanently depraved by left-wing standards, and well obviously anything can be done to them, because that's what happens when you dehumanize people.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!