VIDEO: Oregon Lottery billboards taken over by possible furry hack
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — LED screens on roughly seven Oregon Lottery billboards were turned off at locations around the state after they were taken over by a mysterious furry animation this week.
Oregon Lottery spokesperson Melanie Mesaros told KOIN 6 News that LED screens designed to show the current Powerball Jackpot were affected in seemingly random locations, including billboards in Coos Bay, Albany and Portland between Aug. 12 and 14. Roughly four of the affected billboards were in the Portland area.
“We are working with our vendor to resolve an issue related to the digital display on our billboards,” Mesaros said.
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One of the affected billboards was recorded by Reddit user “HanginWithMrPooper” near the intersection of 68th Ave. and Halsey Street in Northeast Portland. Video of the billboard shows furry artwork of cats in a passionate embrace playing on the billboard’s LED screen.
Matching artwork posted to the internet is credited to furry artist @SH_4RK. KOIN 6 News attempted to contact @SH_4RK on Instagram, but did not receive a response. However, replies on the artist’s X account show similar, simultaneous billboard takeovers occurring around the country to the artist’s surprise.
Although the affected billboard seen in the video is owned by Meadow Outdoor Advertising and paid for by the Oregon Lottery, neither party was responsible for the unexpected art display, they said. Instead, the third-party vendor Daktronics, which operates the LED sign, was the source of the issue. Mesaros said that the Oregon Lottery contacted Daktronics about the issue and all of the billboards were restored on the night of Aug. 14.
“This was a global issue for the vendor Daktronics, which operates the LED screens,” Mesaros said.
KOIN 6 News contacted Daktronics’ public relations department to ask if the LED changes were related to a hacking incident. However, Daktronics has not responded.
Meadow Outdoor Advertising manager Betsy Hege told KOIN 6 News that, although the company owns the affected billboard, it has no control over the billboard’s LED screen.
“Full digital screens are the responsibility of the owner operator, but the LEDs like this are controlled by the client,” Hege said. “We all work hard to prevent hacks and have protocols should it happen.”
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Hege said that the Meadow Outdoor Advertising plans to discuss the issue with the Oregon Lottery and Daktronics in the coming days.
“We will have a good debrief with the Lottery and Daktronics to understand what happened,” Hege said. “Meadow works hard to be a good neighbor, so we are saddened that our signs were displaying the furry image.”
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