Hackers broadcast porn on major billboard in coordinated cyberattack

A digital billboard on one of Cairo’s busiest highways has been hacked to broadcast pornographic footage, delivering the sort of roadside exposure no media buyer wants on their campaign report. Then again, imagine the LinkedIn post: “What broadcasting porn on a highway billboard in a predominantly Muslim country taught me about B2B sales”.

The screen on the 26th of July Axis was compromised on Thursday, 29 October, according to Egypt’s interior ministry and local media. Motorists stopped their cars and filmed the footage, taking the unauthorised broadcast from out-of-home to social media with considerable efficiency. 

Talk about (hard) earned media.

A very different creative execution

According to CNN, Egypt’s interior ministry said the billboard belonged to an advertising firm contracted to an international company.

“The international company’s website was subjected to a cyberattack, which resulted in the unauthorised footage being broadcast,” the ministry said, adding that the breach occurred “in several other countries, simultaneously.”

Authorities did not name the company or identify the other countries affected.

“Legal proceedings have been initiated,” the ministry said. 

That leaves several details unresolved, including how the attackers gained access and how many screens were compromised.

 

 

 

 

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From roadside screen to political message

Footage circulating online carried text naming several apparent aliases, alongside a Telegram channel.

The channel subsequently published a statement criticising Egypt’s government.

“Egypt remains under a dictatorship. The government maintains its power through repression, while the country struggles to move forward. Years pass, but nothing changes, and people’s lives don’t improve.”

The message suggests a political dimension, although its appearance on the channel does not establish who carried out the attack.

Social media responses ranged from shock to amusement. The billboard certainly attracted attention, though its creative execution was unlikely to have survived client approval. Then again, given some of the more, ahem, questionable campaigns in recent years (Bud Light, anyone?), one can't be too sure. 

Local media have also reported sexually explicit footage appearing on electronic billboards in Iraq, Malaysia and Brazil. Egypt’s ministry did not identify those countries in its statement, so it remains unclear whether the incidents were connected.