Sophos Cloud Optix
We’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.
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.
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!!!"
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".
While I appreciate where your comment came from–and it’s cleverness–not all riders are irresponsible. I spent six weeks in a hospital after hitting a truck so hard it required a tow. I broke my hip and tore my vena cava while obeying all regulations and naively expecting him to notice his own red light.
Please keep an eye out. The non-crazy riders are those that might not be noticed.
Ugh. my kingdom to delete an apostrophe. I genuinely do know its/it’s and am annoyed I let that typo slip my (evidently all-too-brief) proofreading
It’s a bit funny though that I came here from an article where Duck notes a similar offense in the phrase on the road sign.
"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.
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.
Is the default password on the signs still ‘SPOTS’?
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.
Ha Ha
Quality lol 🙂