The Dallas Emergency Siren Hack Explained

Back in early April, a hacker gained access to Dallas’ emergency sirens. All 156 sirens went off around midnight, for about two hours straight. There was no immediate explanation for the sirens going off, and many feared that they were a sign of a more severe threat, such as a bomb or a terrorist attack.

The sirens are used to indicate extreme weather, such as tornados or other emergency situations. After officials concluded that there was no emergency situation, they began to disable the sirens. This was more difficult than anticipated, and the entire emergency notification system had to be shut down. Although Dallas officials would not reveal the specifics of the hack — due to fear of repeat attacks — they did reveal that the radio system was hacked, which means that it was not related to a software vulnerability.

Read More: What Are Smart Cities, and Are They Safer?

Who Hacked the Emergency System?

In order to sound all of the alarms at once, the hacker would have had to have been in the Dallas area. The hacker is still unknown, but it is believed that the hacker is a local, and that the sounding of the alarms may have been a prank.

The siren hack could also be a chance to discredit Dallas’ emergency notification system — if false alarms are likely to go off, then will locals respond accordingly in the event of a true emergency? Many Dallas locals treated the sounding of the sirens as a joke on social media, while others frantically called 911 to ask if there had been a terrorist attack.

Response to Dallas Siren Hack

In responding to the Dallas siren hack, officials stated that they were planning on upgrading the city’s infrastructure tech and security, to prevent future attacks. They also contacted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for assistance in securing their emergency system.

Smart cities are more convenient and efficient, but they are also more susceptible to hacking. Other cities should take note of this incident in Dallas, and take measures to upgrade the security of their tech infrastructure. Attacks on tech infrastructure are increasing: roughly 300 attacks were reported in 2015. Hacking incidents like this are likely to further increase this year, which means that our cybersecurity efforts should increase, too.  

Other Issues with Dallas’ Emergency Systems

Last year, a hacker compromised Dallas traffic signs as a prank, and altered the signs to silly messages such as “Work is Canceled — Go Back Home.” More recently, Dallas has experienced issues with its 911 system. Locals have been experiencing prolonged wait times for emergency calls, often waiting more than 25 minutes.