Scott Augenbaum to Newsmax: Hackers Putting Critical Infrastructure in Danger

Federal regulators are warning that hackers have been hijacking U.S. radio transmissions to air bogus emergency management messages and obscene language, disrupting the attention signal used by the nation's Emergency Alert System, and retired FBI agent and cybersecurity expert Scott Augenbaum told Newsmax on Wednesday that the situation is far more than a technical glitch.

"Imagine for a second you're sitting at home, you're listening to the radio, you're watching television, and a message comes across the screen saying that, you know, a tanker truck exploded and has noxious gas, get out of your house immediately," Augenbaum said on Newsmax's "National Report."

"Imagine the panic that that would create ... this is part of critical infrastructure," he added.

The FCC said the attackers appeared to have compromised equipment made by the Swiss network audio company Barix, then reconfigured it so the device received attacker-controlled audio instead of normal station programming.

Barix has not publicly commented, according to the report referenced on Newsmax.

Augenbaum said the incident underscores how high the stakes are when broadcast systems are left vulnerable, particularly when they are tied to public warning systems.

"I'm kind of surprised that this is still happening today, where these things should be secured," he said.

Asked what broadcasters can do to prevent similar incidents in their markets, Augenbaum pointed to modern workflows that rely on remote access, potentially expanding the "front door" hackers can exploit.

"Well, I would think it should come out of the box," he said, contrasting today's speed and convenience with earlier eras.

"I mean, let's remember in the old days, what did we have to do?" he continued. "We had to drive into the office, and we had to log into our computer."

But now, said Augenbaum, "I guarantee you someone is logging in from their cell phone and they're putting those messages up because we can do it instantaneously."

That convenience, he said, can create openings if remote access is not tightly secured or if systems are not kept up to date.

"What does that mean? It means remote access," Augenbaum said. "It means somehow, I believe the bad guys got in, got the username and password, or maybe it was because something was unpatched. But this did not have to happen. This is critical infrastructure."

Augenbaum later turned to another fast-moving technology, artificial intelligence, and cautioned that while AI tools may be increasingly common in everyday life, users should stay skeptical of the information they generate.

"Artificial intelligence is great, but we have to really be careful," he said, recounting an experience with an AI chatbot.

"I entered in some stuff, and ChatGPT came over and lied to me," said Augenbaum. "It gave me information that was not true."

Still, he said he is not overly concerned about AI being used to help consumers make holiday shopping decisions, while warning that broader reliance on AI in other areas may be approaching quickly.

"So, you know, when we're coming to shopping, all right, it's going to be easy. It'll be that. Maybe it'll pick some things out. I'm not too worried about it," he said.

"But look at the direction we're going. We're having ChatGPT analyze lots of data," Augenbaum added. "Next year, it's going to go like this. I don't have to go to my doctor. You know, you know where we're going?"

However, he said, "I'm not concerned about artificial intelligence helping you make a shopping decision."

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