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Researchers Find Easy To Exploit Bugs In Traffic Control Systems

Posted by samzenpus on from the red-light-green-light dept.

Trailrunner7 (1100399) writes "It has been a running joke in the tech industry for years that the hacking scenes in movies are, well, a joke. Hackers in hoodies pushing a few keys and taking down the power grid or causing massive traffic pileups by turning all the stoplights green at once. While those scenes provide endless entertainment for security folks, it turns out some of those attacks aren't so far-fetched. Cesar Cerrudo, a researcher and CTO at IOActive, decided to take a look at the security of some of the devices that control traffic lights and electronic signs in many cites around the world, and found that not only were the devices vulnerable to a number of attacks, but they could be exploited quite easily and perhaps could be used to spread malware from device to device. Cerrudo said that the vulnerabilities he identified can be exploited from up to a mile or two away with the right equipment."

3 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Easy peasy by kimvette · · Score: 5, Informative

    Easy but regulated by federal law.

    See:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...
    http://www.themirt.com/
    http://boingboing.net/2006/04/...
    http://www.advancedtraffic.com...

    There are several standards in use - ~10Hz, ~12Hz, and ~15KHz

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
  2. Sign story by grub · · Score: 4, Funny

    Back in the mid 80s I ran a BBS (Demented Data Systems) We used to to crap like run scans looking for modems. Anyhow, one of the users found something interesting: an electronic sign on top of a downtown office building here was accessible by modem with no password or anything. Just a banner with the company name, sign location and menu.

    He set up a scroll for sometime late one particular evening saying "CALL DEMENTED DATA SYSTEMS - 555-5555 (insert real phone number). So that evening after many beers, the band of drunken ~18 year old geeks went out to the street corner across the road and watched. Sure enough, after what seemed like ages of waiting, there it was scrolling across the screen.

    So, yeah, in the olden days some crap was pretty easy to play with.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Sign story by greenwow · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Great story. I really do miss wardialing.