Attacker activates emergency sirens before storms hit two Texas cities

• City officials of DeSoto and Lancaster had to shut down emergency systems as a result of the intrusion.
• The attacker set off sirens sometime between 2.30 and 4:00 AM on March 12.

A mischievous cybercriminal has forced locals of two Texas cities to snap out of their dreams in the night. It has been reported that this attacker activated emergency sirens way ahead of an oncoming major storm in the cities of DeSoto and Lancaster.

The warning sirens went on for more than forty minutes before city officials shut it down. This is the second time attackers have targeted Texas cities after two years of another siren hack.

Worth noting

• The incident occurred on March 12 sometime between 2:30 and 4:00 AM. It is speculated that the sirens were made to malfunction by attacker(s).
• The hacked emergency systems were taken down and have been offline since the incident.
• The two cities were actually hit with thunderstorms a day later, on March 13 leaving the city without electricity in certain regions. However, no tornadoes were formed in the following days.
• Police from both the cities are investigating this false alarm incident, and yet to ascertain the details of the attackers.

What actions were taken?

Both DeSoto and Lancaster have disclosed that they are working on restoring the warning systems soon. “We will continue to make every effort to safely restore our outdoor siren system and to work with our law enforcement agencies in any follow-up investigations that are conducted,” read the statement released by the city of DeSoto.

Why it matters?

On the other hand, Lancaster authorities dubbed the incident as an act of sabotage by perpetrators. “Based on the widespread impact to the outdoor sirens located in two separate cities, including Lancaster, it has become evident that a person or persons with hostile intent deliberately targeted our combined outdoor warning siren network. Sabotage against a public warning system is more than vandalism,” the city’s official website stated.