Adult content was beamed from the store on New Zealand’s busiest shopping street until employees arrived to open the shop

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Pornography played on giant television screens at an Asics sports store in New Zealand for hours over the weekend after hackers took over the shop’s IT systems.

The pornography was streamed onto screens facing Auckland’s Queen Street, the country’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, and wasn’t stopped until employees arrived to open the store on Sunday morning.

The Japanese company has apologised to anyone who was inadvertently subjected to the material, and said they were working with their software and online security suppliers to make sure it didn’t happen again.

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Police and New Zealand’s internet body Netsafe has also been alerted to the hacking, the company said on Monday.

According to witnesses, the pornography played from 1am on Sunday morning until 10am.

The store manager told the New Zealand Herald he was “100 per cent sure” that his staff members were not responsible for the incident.

Tanya Lee, a mother who was on her way to breakfast with her seven-year-old son when she strolled past Asics, told the Herald the content was “totally inappropriate and offensive”.

“I took a second look because I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said.

Others witnesses said not everyone was so offended by the content.

“Some people were shocked, but others just stopped and watched,” security officer Dwayne Hinango told the Herald.

The New Zealand police said they had not received an official complaint regarding the matter.