Malicious intruders have hijacked US radio gear to turn emergency broadcast tones into a profanity-laced alarm system.

That's according to the latest warning issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has flagged a "recent string of cyber intrusions" that diverted studio-to-transmitter links (STLs) so attackers could replace legitimate programming with their own audio – complete with the signature "Attention Signal" tone of the domestic Emergency Alert System (EAS).

According to the alert, the intrusions exploited unsecured broadcasting equipment, notably devices manufactured by Swiss firm Barix, which were reconfigured to stream attacker-controlled audio instead of station output. That stream included either real or simulated EAS alert tones, followed by obscene langua

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