Lemont Tornado Siren System Was Likely Hacked, Officials Say

After learning of similar incidents across Cook County, officials now believe the village's tornado siren system was hacked by an unauthorized signal Sunday night.

"Today we learned that the City of Evanston had a similar incident with their emergency alert system (sirens) on Saturday night," Lemont Police Chief Kevin Shaughnessy announced Tuesday. "They feel strongly that their system was hacked and an unauthorized signal was sent setting off their system. They were able to cancel it however shortly after it was breached."

"After meeting with our contractor concerning what happened to Lemont’s system, there is a strong possibility that we too were hacked and an unauthorized signal was sent, (repeatedly) setting off our system," he said.  

Lemont officials initially believed a mechanical malfunction was to blame for setting off the sirens multiple times between 9:15 p.m. and 11 p.m. Sunday, despite quiet, clear conditions.

All seven sirens were taken offline while officials investigated the incident. Power was restored just before noon Monday.

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On Tuesday, Lemont Mayor Brian Reaves said the contractor, Federal Signal Corporation, was able to update the village's system to prevent similar incidents in the future.

"We know this has happened elsewhere in Cook County, so we no longer believe it was a mechanical malfunction," Reaves said. "Knowing we were probably hacked, we've been able to take precautions to stop it from happening again."

Because the emergency alert system is set up on a radio signal, the village cannot totally eliminate the possibility of getting hacked in the future, Shaughnessy said.

The Lemont Police Department has alerted the Federal Communications Commission, Cook County Homeland Security Department, City of Evanston and Federal Bureau of Investigation of the incident.

Shaughnessy said the system was tested at 10 a.m. Tuesday—as it is every month—and the sirens were activated without any issues.

"The investigation continues and we hope that no further breaches of our system occur," he said.

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