PORT TOWNSEND — A suspected hacker used the Wave Broadband emergency messaging system to send out false alerts to approximately 3,000 cable customers, Jefferson County officials said.
(Krystal Hampton)
Numerous people reported to the county Department of Emergency Management (DEM) about 8:30 p.m. Thursday night after they saw an Emergency Alert System notification on their television regarding a radiological incident in the state, public information officer Keppie Keplinger said in a press release.
Three subsequent messages unrelated to the incident followed, Keplinger said.
The fake messages were sent only to Wave customers, Keplinger said.
(Krystal Hampton)
The DEM alert systems of Nixle and AlertSense were not compromised, she added.
The state Emergency Operations Center confirmed the message did not originate at its agency, either, Keplinger said.
Wave took action to prevent additional non-official emergency alerts from being sent, and it is in the process of developing and implementing protocols that will prevent such a breach in the future, Keplinger said.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
(Krystal Hampton)
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