Hackers interrupt Israeli Eurovision webcast with faked explosions Published duration 15 May 2019 Related Topics Eurovision Song Contest

image copyright EPA image caption Miller-Heidke (centre) wrote Zero Gravity with her husband, Keir Nuttall

An Israeli webcast of the first Eurovision semi-final has been hacked to show faked explosions in host city Tel Aviv.

Viewers saw a warning about a fictitious attack on the city, accompanied by an animated video and the sound of air raid sirens.

The Israeli national broadcaster, Kan, blamed Hamas for the interruption, though the Palestinian militant group has not commented.

The TV broadcast was not affected.

Viewers tuning in to the Kan webcast saw the warning: "Risk of missile attack. Please take shelter," under a fake logo of the Israeli army and the sound of a rocket-warning siren.

Aerial images showed simulated explosions at sites near the Eurovision venue and the warning: "Israel is not safe. You will see."

Kan downplayed the impact of the video, which looped for about 10 minutes.

"We know that at a certain stage there was an attempt, apparently by Hamas, to commandeer our digital broadcast," chief executive, Eldad Koblenz, told Israel's Army Radio.

"But I am happy to say that within a few minutes we managed to assume control over this phenomenon."

Cyber-conflicts

On 5 May, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it had thwarted an "attempted Hamas cyber-offensive" against Israeli targets.

Following the defensive cyber-operation, the IDF added, the Israeli Air Force had carried out an air strike on a building in the Gaza Strip where the Hamas operatives were believed to work.