14-Year-Old Turns Tram System Into Personal Train Set

F-3582 writes "By modifying a TV remote a 14-year-old boy from Lodz, Poland, managed to gain control over the junctions of the tracks. According to The Register the boy had 'trespassed in tram depots to gather information needed to build the device. [...] Transport command and control systems are commonly designed by engineers with little exposure or knowledge about security using commodity electronics and a little native wit.' Four trams derailed in the process injuring a number of passengers. The boy is now looking at 'charges at a special juvenile court of endangering public safety.'"

Comments

Re:Special security training?

[autophile]

It depends. Was the tram system designed when Poland was firmly behind the Iron Curtain? If so, it's unlikely that "good engineering practices" from the rest of the world were well-known. Perhaps security was a guard with a gun. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there may not have been any money or drive to update the system. Even US corporations fall into that trap occasionally.

So, yeah, I'd say it's perfectly understandable that a tram system hackable with a TV remote exists.

--Rob

Lodz, kurwa

[miscz]

Lodz, kurwa.

BTW, I can't post most of the polish characters :(