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Hacking programmable road signs

Andrew Lyle   on 27 January 2009 - 21:50 · 29 comments & 12416 views

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Many citizens might notice the construction digital road signs on the side of the road while driving, indicating important information such as road closures or traffic delays, but what if the sign included information such as "Zombies ahead" or "this sign has been hacked".


(image courtesy of i-hacked.com)

These digital road signs can be compromised as easily as breaking into them. A viral video shows the possibility of future sign hacking with a laptop and a Nokia N95. A user has posted pictures of how to break into the digital road signs on www.i-hacked.com, teaching users how to access and change the sign information. The news post on i-hacked.com mentions that the digital road signs can be easily tampered with by using the text entry device and scrolling down to enter the desired text.

Another YouTube viral video user has posted videos of himself hacking digital road signs and even a train station screen to display whatever he wants on it. The videos are fake but do show what the future might hold for this type of hacking. Users at MIT might be to blame for the digital road sign tampering in Boston, after posting pictures of the hacked road signs on the web site.



The videos are fake but enjoy :)

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#1 BGM on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:01
impressive stuff
#2 The Tjalian on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:06
Hahahahaha... that is full of win.
(1 reply) #3 xSuRgEx on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:07
the road sign thing is hardly a "hack" but the other stuff the guy in the youtube videos did was impresive.
#3.1 PatrynXX on 28 Jan 2009 - 00:39
xSuRgEx said,
the road sign thing is hardly a "hack" but the other stuff the guy in the youtube videos did was impresive.

course if we know these are fake, how is it hardly a hack?
#4 Nauge on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:07
lol. class...
#5 +Lexcyn on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:08
Haha that is too cool. We have tons of these signs in our city because the roads are terrible. If any were changed it would cause chaos lol.
#6 Cryton on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:12
rofl "man in the red coat, you have won a car"
#7 Marshalus on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:14
I would probably crap my pants if I saw a sign that said "Zombies Ahead" ... I would go the other direction, that is for sure
#8 +Pajter on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:14
Woah that dude is awesome. XD
(1 reply) #9 xSuRgEx on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:21
the videos on youtube are fake apparently.
#9.1 theyarecomingforyou on 27 Jan 2009 - 23:42
Shame, but they're still funny.
(3 replies) #10 XerXis on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:23
sorry to break it to you, but those video's were part of a viral advertising campaign for a dutch company (some IT college) a few (two if I remember correctly) years ago. None of that stuf is real And I for one thought it was pretty easy to spot as a fake even then
#10.1 DomZ on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:27
Yeh looking at the other videos they are shockingly faked
#10.2 creamhackered on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:28
It was more for comic value than anything, made it a bit more clear now...
#10.3 lylesback2 on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:32
Yeah the videos are fake, but was included to show the potential of hacking in the future can be easily done. It was only for the "humor" side of things
(1 reply) #11 Circaflex on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:30
and it says "The videos are fake but enjoy "
#11.1 xSuRgEx on 27 Jan 2009 - 23:08
it didnt say that when the artical was 1st posted.
#12 xSuRgEx on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:30
LOL i wounder how many n00b tryed to google "hack road signs with a N95" before realseing they were fake.
#13 superkid on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:53
^ I actually nearly did search that untill i scrolled down abit. haha ;p
#14 Vakerorokero on 27 Jan 2009 - 22:58
Welcome to a hackable future!
#15 mclaren05 on 27 Jan 2009 - 23:27
Are those road signs actually changable?

I mean if you pull over in your car, are there controls that allow you to change the message?
#16 wrack on 27 Jan 2009 - 23:28
LOL
#17 alan on 28 Jan 2009 - 00:21
well there is my future sorted out lol
#18 SirEvan on 28 Jan 2009 - 00:38
the led signs on the side of the road are, as they have handhelds in them, but dont know about the other ones...they're controled from a central office.
#19 Ricky Smith on 28 Jan 2009 - 00:52
Is it me or has the quality of news on here taken a sharp decline.
(1 reply) #20 Doli on 28 Jan 2009 - 02:39
According to the blog i-hacked.com, some programmable road signs are easily messed with, largely because they often have unlocked instrument panels, a text-entry system that is easily accessed, and are often protected with uncomplicated, or unchanged default passwords....."Programming is as simple as scrolling down the menu selection to 'Instant Text,'"


haha they call this hacking...
#20.1 lylesback2 on 28 Jan 2009 - 03:41
Doli said,
haha they call this hacking...

It's more tampering, but in front of a judge, it could be considered hacking into construction signs... unauthorized usage
#21 Rohdekill on 28 Jan 2009 - 16:22
I would have set the road sign to say "Bridge Out Ahead".
#22 Sevan on 07 Feb 2009 - 01:11
LMAO That's classic..

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