COLLINSVILLE, Illinois - Pranksters in at least three states are messing with electronic road signs meant to warn motorists of possible traffic problems by putting drivers on notice about **** zombies and raptors. And highway safety officials aren't amused.The latest breach came Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES." A day earlier in Indiana's Hamilton County, the electronic message on a board in Carmel's construction zone warned drivers of "RAPTORS AHEAD — CAUTION." And signs in Austin, Texas, recently flashed: "**** ZOMBIES! RUN!!!" and "ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN." Officials in Illinois are concerned the rewritten signs distract motorists from heeding legitimate hazards down the road. The hacked sign on Tuesday originally warned drivers of crews replacing guardrails. "We understood it was a hoax, but at the same time those boards are there for a reason," said Joe Gasaway, an Illinois Department of Transportation supervisory field engineer. "We don't want (drivers) being distracted by a funny sign." Authorities haven't figured out how pranksters access the signs. Gasaway believes the Illinois sign was changed remotely, and Austin Public Works spokeswoman Sara Hartley suspected the hackers there cut a padlock to get into the signs' computers. Some Web sites, such as Jalopnik.com, have published tutorials titled "How to Hack an Electronic Road Sign" as a way to alert security holes to traffic-safety officials. Jalopnik urges its readership of 2.6 million a month not to put its lesson to practice. "Hacking generally is about showing where there are holes in security systems, and I think this is a great example of that," the site's editor-in-chief, Ray Wert, told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday. "I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to use that information in a way that's inappropriate, but we're trying to make clear this is an issue that needs to be confronted by traffic safety and transportation officials." Wert said he had no immediate plans to take down Jalopnik's how-to guide. In Illinois, tampering with an official traffic control device is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $250 fine — half what a culprit might have to pay in Texas if caught. If convicted in Indiana, a culprit faces up to a year in jail and $5,000 in fines. Check it.
Yeah, that definitely sounds like fun. If I was driving down the road and I saw that I'd lol. I don't know how to hack stuff though so it'll only be a dream.
That seriously just made me rofl my pants. All we need now are signs saying "All your base are belong to us."
Ok, this thread needs to turn into people suggesting what to put on a sign. Perhaps, "Road slippery when wet" Oh wait, that's already on signs :/
"Warning: Yomtraps ahead. Prepare for infractions." I can't wait to see that, because I KNOW that it will happen... Just I don't know WHEN it will happen.
They're pointless anyway. The signs in England yesterday near where I live said "Caution: Mud On Road". They're made to be hacked IMO.
I would hack a few, and make them say things like "Caution Yomtvraps ahead" "Yo dawg we heard you liek cars" "I hurd you leik mudkipz" and a picture of House as Gordan Freeman. Then I would post pictures of it here on forgehub.
I saw a website on how to do this actually. The box where the type-pad is located is usually unlocked by careless road workers. the password to use the type-pad is almost always 'DOTS', the default password. If that isn't the password there is some other code you type in and it will reset the password to 'DOTS'. After you get in you can reset want you want to be displayed on the board by typing it in and pressing enter.