Hackers Hijack Digital Billboards in Five Countries..Display Explicit Videos

Digital billboards in five countries reportedly displayed pornographic videos after hackers took control of the advertising screens, leaving pedestrians and motorists shocked. According to international media reports, the incidents occurred last week in Egypt, Malaysia, Brazil, China and Iraq. In Cairo, Egypt, explicit content appeared on a billboard along a busy road, surprising commuters. Videos of the incident were recorded by passers-by and shared on social media, bringing the hacking incident to wider attention. The Egyptian government said a cyberattack had targeted the website of a company associated with the billboard network, causing unauthorised footage to appear on screens in multiple countries. An investigation is underway, though authorities have not disclosed the company’s name or identified all the affected countries officially.

A hacker group calling itself Leakers$ claimed responsibility for the attacks in a Telegram post. The group said it had identified vulnerabilities in the software used to transmit content to LED screens and exploited them to gain access to digital billboards within hours. Advertising agencies reportedly switched off the affected screens immediately. The hackers claimed their motive was neither financial gain nor intimidation, but to expose weaknesses in the security systems protecting advertising infrastructure. They mocked companies for spending large sums on infrastructure while failing to secure internet-connected screens, and said the attacks were intended to demonstrate how easily poorly protected billboards could be compromised.