Motorists warned of Dalek invasion by hacked road sign

Filed Under: Featured, Uncategorized

Mark III travel machineWe've reported in the past about road signs that have been hacked to warn about zombies, of an invasion by the British, and even to spell the word "POOP".

Now, according to media reports, a road sign is warning of an interstellar invasion - all the way from the planet Skaro.

The Daleks, the extermination-loving tin pepperpots from British sci-fi TV show "Doctor Who", have clearly picked up on the programme's growing popularity in the United States, and allegedly invaded Denver, Colorado.

Warning Daleks Ahead

Mystery surrounds how practical jokers managed to meddle with the electronic construction sign along Arapahoe Road in Boulder, Colorado, as the local department of transportation is stridently claiming that the device was properly secured.

And we don't know who is behind the hack either. Davros didn't return our calls.

In the past, companies who put these signs by the roadside have shown carelessness about their security - by not physically locking them or failing to choose hard-to-guess software passwords.

Obviously, it's never a good idea to mess around with signs designed to share messages with road traffic - but I can't deny that the seven-year-old version of me would have been utterly thrilled to see this.

Hat-tip: Kasterborous.

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7 Responses to Motorists warned of Dalek invasion by hacked road sign

  1. Chuck R says:

    Lots of wonderful moments and memories from "Doctor Who", but one exchange that has become one of my favorite "almost' quotes (since I'm depending on my memory and I'm almost as old as The Doctor without having the benefit of being a Time Lord).

    Doctor: "Well we're off for another exciting day!"

    Companion: "Are all the places we go always exciting?"

    Doctor: "Of course! We're time travelers. We skip all of the boring ones!!!"

  2. sonofmagni says:

    I think it's cool. If I knew how I'd change signs that say "Check twice for motorcycles, save a life" to "Check twice for motorcycles, because they're probably weaving through traffic, zipping up the breakdown lane, driving between lanes, and going 30 over the posted limit".

  3. Randy says:

    "carelessness about their security - by not physically locking them or failing to choose hard-to-guess software passwords"

    They probably got into the system using a sonic screwdriver.

  4. Vito says:

    Actually, if it weren't for the fact they interfere with potentially important safety or other travel information, I wouldn't completely disapprove of such hacks. A construction sign that alternated between "POOP!" and "Slow - construction ahead" would not only be sure to grab my attention, but would give me a bit of a comedic lift. But I guess everyone's not like me.

  5. Is the default password on the signs still 'SPOTS'?

  6. Blah says:

    Close but....not correct. You can find the password on the internet easily....also if the password is set to something else there is a way to reset it to the default.

  7. RIcky says:

    Ha Ha

    Quality lol :)

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About the author

Graham Cluley has worked in the computer security industry for more than 20 years, developing anti-virus software and doing quite a lot of talking about internet threats. He's won awards for his blogging, but is proudest of the text adventure games he wrote when he was still wearing short trousers. You can learn more about those (the games, not the trousers) at grahamcluley.com. Send Graham an email, subscribe to his updates on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and App.net, and circle him on Google Plus for regular updates.