IS hack Swedish radio station, seize broadcast

Islamic State militants hacked into a Swedish radio station Friday, taking over its transmission and broadcasting an English language propaganda song aimed at recruiting more militants.

The song entitled, "For the Sake of Allah" played for about 30 minutes on the Mix Megapol station in Malmo. Mix Megapol is an FM and internet-based radio station that is part of a private radio network.

Jakob Gravestam, a Marketing Director for the Bauer Media Group, which operates the Malmo-based station, issued a statement that said "Somebody interfered with our frequency using a pirate transmitter."

 

Mix Megapol is one of Sweden's biggest radio stations, and has about 1.4 million listeners daily. But the pirated transmission was only heard in parts of the southern city of Malmo, Sweden's third largest metropolis, with a population of about 350,000.

The song features male voices singing, in English, such lyrics as: "For the sake of Allah we will march to gates of the paradise where our maidens await. We are men who love death just as you love your life, we are soldiers who fight in the day and the night."

Preventing such attacks

The hack occurred during a popular morning show 'Anders & Gry with Friends' but the hosts didn't notice anything was askew until listeners called in and asked what was going on.

"A lot of people have called us about this," Gravestam told the 24Malmo website. "We are very happy that people are vigilant and we treat this very seriously."

Gravestam said the attack highlights the need for broadcasters to discuss how to "prevent" such incidents. He added that Bauer Media will organize such a discussion and invite other broadcasters, as well as the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), which monitors the electronic communications and postal sectors, to the meeting.

bik/ng (AP, Reuters, dpa)