Local News

MBTA Denies False Commuter Alerts Were Caused by a Hacker

Snow flies as a MBTA commuter rail train on the Newburyport branch travels through Ipswich. John Blanding/Globe Staff

An MBTA spokesman is emphatically stating that the T’s alert system was not hacked after riders received a series of confusing alerts about commuter rail service early Wednesday morning, implying delays to multiple lines could last indefinitely.

“The T Alerts system was NOT hacked,’’ MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. “We have narrowed it to an input error and/or a technical issue. Tech staff continues to look into it.’’

“It has not affected our ability to issue legitimate service alerts this morning,’’ he added.

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MBTA riders understandably freaked out at the possibility that the delays could last indefinitely three days of the week, but about an hour later they received an update instructing them to ignore the alerts.

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Earlier Wednesday morning, a spokesman for Keolis Commuter Services attributed the alerts to a possible hack, according to the Associated Press.

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