The Emergency Broadcast Thread

The FCC's Report and Order on Emergency Alert System cybersecurity, adopted June 25, 2026, tells the whole thread in one document. In November 2025 the commission put EAS participants on notice after hackers broke into radio-station alert encoders and pushed fake alert tones and obscene audio onto live broadcasts ... hijacked encoders, default passwords still in place, a decade of incidents the order calls neither hypothetical nor isolated. With that record in front of it, the commission adopted new rules for every EAS participant: stronger passwords, prompt patching, and firewalls between alert gear and the open internet. Be reachable, then be discerning, in that order. A NOAA weather radio with battery and hand-crank power keeps official warnings reaching you if the grid or cell network goes down, and a bathtub water reserve keeps you steady while you sort out what any warning means.

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? ~ Amos 3:6 KJV

Source: docs.fcc.gov