Some northern Michigan television viewers got a surprise while they caught the latest episode of “The Bachelor” last night: An emergency alert warning them of a zombie attack.
The Emergency Alert System for three Marquette television stations was hacked on Monday and sent out an audio message indicating that bodies were rising from the grave and alerted people to avoid contacting the walking dead. (See video below.)
The suspected hacker has been caught, according to Cynthia Thompson, station manager and news director at ABC 10 and CW 5 in Marquette. She could not release any further details on the suspect.
“People panicked and it was crazy and we didn’t know how to stop it,” she said of the incident.
The message went out at about 8:30 p.m., while “The Bachelor” aired on ABC and “The Carrie Diaries,” a prequel to "Sex and The City," played on CW. Thompson said she received many phone calls and emails from viewers, including quips that they thought it was their punishment for watching "The Bachelor."
It appears that the same person got into Northern Michigan University’s public television station WNMU. That message interrupted "Barney and Friends" at about 4 p.m. Monday, said station manager Eric Smith.
He said they received phone calls from parents trying to figure out what happened.
“Fortunately nobody viewed it as a credible threat,” he said. “We were able to assure them there was no emergency.”
NMU spokeswoman Cindy Paavola said she couldn't confirm whether anyone had been caught, but said investigators have identified some locations where the hacking may have originated.
Similar attacks have been reported in Great Falls, Montana.
It looks like the security breach occurred at stations that didn’t have their login names or passwords reset from factory default settings, said Ed Czarnecki, senior director for strategy and regulatory affairs for Monroe Electronics Inc., a Lyndonville, NY-based manufacturer of EAS equipment.
“We are very aggressively working with authorities … to ensure that all broadcasters have updated their passwords on their critical equipment,” he said.
The Michigan Association of Broadcasters also has asked its member stations to reset their passwords, said CEO Karole White.
She said as funny as the zombie threat sounds, the MAB is taking the issue very seriously and working with the Michigan State Police and Federal Communications Commission on the case.
“Though this was kind of a pranksters joke, they could have used a different code that could have caused people to be very concerned and possibly even panic,” she said.
Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Twitter: @MelissaDAnders. Download the MLive app for iPhone and Android.