Caution ahead...Nazis, Zombies, and Raptors...oh my!

[The Overlord]

Fracking awesome.  :D

Pranks involving electronic road signs stir worry

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/ap_on_re_us/highway_signs_zombies

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. – 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 Nazi 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: "NAZI 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.

[Avi]

Ha ha, these people are my heroes.  "Nazi Zombies!  Run!!!" is obviously a reference to COD: World at War's "Nacht de Undoten" mini-game. XD  I only wish someone around here had the balls to pull one of these.

[Mathim]

If one of the penalties is only a $250 fine, that might be worth it (well, to someone who does pranks habitually.) That's hilarious, though. Although the Nazi Zombies thing was a little redundant.

[Oniya]

I read about this a few days ago  - in addition to a lack of padlocks (which some places have corrected apparently), the other 'security hole' was that the road crews never changed the password from the factory default.  I'm willing to bet that it was something ID-10T compliant like 'password' or 'default'.

[Silver]

When that was on the news, I laughed and then facepalmed..since it was on my local news..and it reminded me that those things always must happen too close to me..

[Cutter]

Ha ha, these people are my heroes.  "Nazi Zombies!  Run!!!" is obviously a reference to COD: World at War's "Nacht de Undoten" mini-game. XD  I only wish someone around here had the balls to pull one of these.

I must get to that mini-game~ ;D

[Avi]

All you have to do is beat the game on any difficulty.  :)  It's fun on single player, so I can't imagine what it's like on multiplayer. ;D

[pianoman7117]

lmao those nazi zombies tend to move pretty fast after a couple of rounds, i cant beleive that theres that big of a difference in charges between states tho, thats kind of odd...

[Martel]

Totally epic lolz, not really a lot else to say.