In light of recent incidents in which bad actors have taken over radio station audio feeds, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) reminds broadcasters to secure their internet-connected equipment. Specifically, Barix equipment having direct connection to the public internet through port-forwarding routers, and with short passwords, have been targeted. EAS processors with factory default or simple passwords have also been hit.

FCC Public Notice DA 25-996 addresses this issue with specific concerns and recommendations for increased security. You can contact Barix and Digital Alert Systems support departments for more information.

Due to a lack of Congressionally-approved funding, the Federal Communications Commission and other government agencies have suspended activities. According to TV Technology magazine, most filing deadlines that fall during the shutdown will be extended with submissions due the next business day after the FCC resumes normal operations. “Although the FCC website will remain up, it will not be updated except for matters related to spectrum auction activities and threats to life and property.”

The FCC issued a Public Notice on Tuesday, September 30, indicating that it would suspend most operations following a shutdown. “Aside from a few emergency and auction filing systems, all other Commission electronic filing systems will be unavailable to the public until normal agency operations resume,” said the FCC Notice.

The FCC Notice indicates that the CORES registration system will remain available to the public and will not be affected by the shutdown. The FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) databases are currently unavailable to the public. ULS and related systems (like the License Manager, License Search, Application Search, etc.) are not accessible during the shutdown. Users cannot file applications with the FCC, or access license data, including address information.