Construction signs warn of zombies

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Apoptosis
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Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by Apoptosis »

Austin drivers making their morning commute were in for a surprise when two road signs on a busy stretch of road were taken over by hackers. The signs near the intersection of Lamar and Martin Luther King boulevards usually warn drivers about upcoming construction, but Monday morning they warned of "zombies ahead."

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AUSTIN (KXAN) - "I thought it was pretty funny," said University of Texas sophomore Jane Shin, who saw the signs while driving down Lamar Bouelvard with friends Sunday night. "We wondered who did it."

The City of Austin does not own the signs, but they are responsible for the message. The contractor on the construction project owns the signs. A city spokesperson said the hacked messages were only up for a few hours, until the construction project manager saw them during his morning commute and immediately ordered them to be changed back.

"Even though this may seem amusing to a lot of people, this is really serious, and it is a crime," said Austin Public Works spokesperson Sara Hartley. "And you can be indicted for it, and we want to make sure our traffic on the raodways stays safe."

Hartley said though it was a locked sign, the padlock for it was cut. Signs such as these have a computer inside that is password-protected.

"And so they had to break in and hack into the computer to do it, so they were pretty determined," said Hartley.

This crime is a class C misdemeanor in Texas, and Hartley said it endangers the public.

"The big problem is public safety," said Hartley. "Those signs are out there to help our traffic on the roadway to stay safe and to know what's coming up."

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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by DMB2000uk »

Wonder if anyone believed it :mrgreen:

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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by GI-JOE »

Seems to me that some people are playing Left 4 Dead too much. :lol:
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by FZ1 »

LOL...running the other way they saw Zoey, Bill, Francis and Louis. :axe:
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by jakegub »

Yeah I read this story a few days ago. They say that the security for these things are a box cover and a security code and that the workers never lock them back and they don't change the code from its default setting and so most of the signs in the US are probably hackable.

I'd probably wreck after doing a double-take.
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by Ultima9999 »

Haha, thats awesome :)

Too bad some people got all bitchy and anal about it...learn to take a joke for god sakes :?
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by Skippman »

We here at Zombie Squad would like to officially state we had nothing to do with this.

Thank you.
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by vicaphit »

I also heard that even the machines that have a new password usually have the new password written on the cover for the computer. No hacking involved.
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by x.clay »

I got a good laugh out of this when I first saw it. In a town with a college campus with 60,000 students you are bound to see some crazy stuff.
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by slugbug »

Supposedly those roadside displays are very easy to hack.
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by Zenphic »

I would have had a good laugh if it was in my neighborhood :D
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Re: Construction signs warn of zombies

Post by stev »

The way it was hacked did not put the workers in danger.

Actually, if I saw it on a morning commute it would have stirred me up more to pay attention to the workers safety.

Still a good chuckle or a wide smile grin if it happened in my area.
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