Screenshot via Google Maps.
Early morning shoppers in central Auckland were exposed to several hours’ worth of porn yesterday morning when hackers gained access to a large promotional screen above a storefront. The pornographic video played continuously on the screen at the entrance to the Asics clothing store until staff arrived at 10 a.m. to turn it off, the NZ Herald reported. A spokesman confirmed that the screen was hacked, although it isn’t clear what motivated the screening of the explicit video.“Our Shortland Street store was subject to a cyber security breach,” the spokesman told Reuters. “We are currently investigating the situation and working to mitigate it happening again in the future.”Eyewitness reports vary as to exactly how long the porn was up on the big screen. One onlooker told the NZ Herald that “the video ran for a long time, maybe two hours from 8 a.m. until the shop staff arrived at about 10 a.m.,” and that “some people were shocked, but others just stopped and watched."Another witness, however, claimed that the footage was playing from as early as 1 a.m."I took a second look because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing," said the woman, who was on her way to breakfast with her 7-year-old son. "It's totally inappropriate and offensive, not something that you want kids exposed to and it's also embarrassing for Auckland as a tourist destination."Asics brand manager Greig Bramwell offered an apology to everyone affected by the broadcast."We are currently investigating the situation and working to make sure it cannot happen again in the future,” he said, according to Stuff . "We sincerely apologise to those who saw the content."A similar incident took place in Perth, Australia last year, when hackers gained access to a public screen in the centre of the city and displayed the homepage of the internet’s biggest porn site, PornHub."Unfortunately, it appears that these screens were compromised this evening and, for a brief period of time, some inappropriate content was displayed on one of the screens," a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA) told the ABC at the time. "Both screens were immediately turned off and power has also been switched off to the units to eliminate all possibilities of a recurrence."Follow Gavin on Twitter or Instagram
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