Station WKXM-FM in Winfield, Ala., was hit with a cyberattack on its transmitter on Thursday, according to the Alabama Broadcasters Association’s Engineering Services arm.

“Someone gained access to their transmitter, which had RBDS as part of the transmitter software,” according to an email from ABA.

“The intruders took over the data and displayed some very offensive wording.” The attack did not affect program audio itself.

“The station engineer was able to gain access into the transmitter and turned off the RBDS data transmission. It appears the intruder gained access using the factory installed login information and changed the displayed data and the login. The station is working with the transmitter manufacturer to correct the factory login information.”

ABA Director of Engineering Services Larry Wilkins concluded: “This is another warning that stations should be using secure firewall protection in front of all their equipment even the transmitter itself!”

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