Dallas Digs Deep To Prevent Another Siren Hack

Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Wednesday evening the Dallas City Council agreed to spend up to $100,000 for security upgrades to its emergency siren system.

That's after it was hacked and activated on Friday night alarming and waking up thousands of angry citizens.

The council was briefed behind closed doors about the problem.

The city initially told everyone the sirens activated because of a malfunction.

But by Saturday afternoon, workers realized the system was hacked.

While the hackers still haven't been found, it's believed they had to be close to the sirens because they are radio-activated, with receivers attached to each of the sirens.

The city manager told the council that the system was encrypted within 48 hours of the hack.

The $100,000 approved Wednesday is only the beginning of a lot more money that will be needed to upgrade a system that security experts call archaic.