Whoever Is Hacking Radio Stations To Play YG's "FDT" Is A Hero
Hackers have been dropping YG's "FDT" onto radio stations across the country.
The Associated Press, BuzzFeed and local outlets have reported various incidents in which radio stations unintentionally played the song on different days.
This past Monday night Sunny 107.9 in Salem, South Carolina, reportedly played the anti-Donald Trump track for 15 minutes straight. President Frank Patterson of the Lake Keowee Broadcasting Group took to Facebook shortly to explain the hacking.
"Our internet has been hacked at our transmitter site and the station has played anti-Trump songs. This is not our broadcast! We at WFBS do not take political views," Keowee wrote. After acknowledging the hacking Keowee added in another post "If they [the hackers] do not like President Trump then get a sign and stand on a street corner."
A hacking also happened in Mooresville, North Carolina. In a report from the Mooresville Tribune the hacking occurred on January 24, where the song proceeded to play on loop for 30 minutes.
Prior to that, multiple hackings had occurred at different radio stations on January 20, including Sunday Morning Glory Radio's 100.5 in San Angelo, TX; El Jefe 96.7 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Mother of the Redeemer Radio 103.5 in Evansville, Indiana; and Crescent Hill Radio in Louisville, Kentucky.
In a report from Radio Insight, it turns out that the hack was done through a Barix Exstreamer, an unsecured device. When contacted by BuzzFeed, Johannes Rietschel (the owner of Barix) said that the company's devices are often used by small radio stations because of their simplicity, but should be used with a firewall whenever linked to the internet.
"It's like with your home router, your car, your house," Rietschel said. "With significant interest to take over the devices for political messages or even blackmailing, there will be more takeovers and maybe even 'hacks.'"
YG has been consistent in his critique of Trump. During last year's presidential election the rapper offered free "F**k Donald Trump" bagels to Compton voters.