Cyber security attack at YLW posed no direct threat to travelling public

Oct 15, 2025 | 9:44 AM

UPDATE 12 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15

A cyber attack at the Kelowna International Airport Tuesday was quickly handled with no threat to the public identified.

The airport (YLW) said Wednesday, a third party hacked the display screens and public address systems, with social media posts showing the systems were used to convey pro-Hamas, anti-Israel messaging. It was thought to be one of at least three Canadian airports hacked in a similar way.

“Our team was able to remove the messaging from systems in the terminal building within a matter of minutes. All affected systems were isolated and verified before being restored late [Tuesday] night,” YLW said in a media release.

“The cyber security incident was limited to a cloud-based third party software provider. Airport systems are segregated to protect cyber security incidents from migrating from one network to another.”

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The airport completed a joint risk assessment with RCMP and Transport Canada, which found that the “messaging displayed was not deemed to be a direct threat towards the travelling public.”

As of Wednesday YLW was working with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and Transport Canada to analyze the root cause of the hack.

The airport added that more information about the cyber attack would be released following the investigation.

Similar hacks were reported at Victoria and Windsor airports, and at an airport in Pennsylvania in the United States.

— Original Story —

Operations were back to normal Wednesday at Kelowna International Airport after an extraordinary breach Tuesday.

The airport’s public information displays and audio system were hacked by pro-Hamas, anti-Israel messaging.

Social media images showed the terminal displays taken over by a party labelling itself “Siber-islam”.

The airport said it successfully removed the unauthorized messaging and restored the flight information display screens.

There has been no word from YLW on how the breach happened.

CNN reports a similar breach happened at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania yesterday.

by Vernon Matters Staff

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