Report: Watch Dogs Game May Have Influenced Highway Sign Hacking

An anonymous reader writes 'Earlier this month, at least three U.S. states reported that a hacker had broken into electronic road signs above major highways, with the hacker leaving messages for people to follow him on Twitter. The Multi-State Information Sharing an Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) produced an intelligence report blaming a Saudi Arabian hacker that the organization says likely got the idea from Watch Dogs, a new video in which game play revolves around "hacking," with a focus on hacking critical infrastructure-based electronic devices in particular. "Watch Dogs allows players to hack electronic road signs, closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs), street lights, cell phones and other systems. On May 27, 2014, the malicious actor posted an image of the game on his Twitter feed, demonstrating his interest in the game, and the compromise of road signs occurs during game play. CIS believes it is likely that a small percentage of Watch Dogs players will experiment with compromising computers and electronic systems outside of game play, and that this activity will likely affect SSLT [state, local, tribal and territorial] government systems and Department of Transportation (DOT) systems in particular." The signs allowed telnet and were secured with weak or default passwords. The report came out on the same day that The Homeland Security Department cautioned transportation operators about a security hole in some electronic freeway billboards that could let hackers display bogus warnings to drivers.'

Comments

Oh god.

[PhrostyMcByte]

Instead of rational articles with headlines something like:

Insecure government process allows trivial unauthorized access to road infrastructure

We get ones focusing on how a game may have encouraged people to hack into the stuff. I don't think it'll ever end.

Re:Well then the SOLUTION is obvious

[Aqualung812]

Since when the fuck did the traditional pure metal signs go out of style?

Since we figured out that electronically changing the message on a sign was MUCH more cost effective than printing a new one each time the message changed.

"Road closed from June 1st to June 14th" Oh, shit, now we need one that says "No left turn from 8a-5p until August 1st", I guess will order a new sign...

Also, don't discount the usefulness of re-routing traffic when there is a large planned or unplanned event, like a sports event or an Interstate closing because of a massive wreck.

Re:Well then the SOLUTION is obvious

[Cryacin]

Pffft. Kids have been "hacking" signs for years. I remember when I was a kid, there was a place called Fairy Falls Creek. A couple of my university friends went and made a professional quality sign, in the same colour, and font as the existing sign, and renamed the area to Hairy Balls Creek. The fact that there were round rocks covered in hairy moss made the sign very plausible. So plausible, that after a few years, even the local tourism guides quoted Hairy Balls Creek.

You don't need to be high tech to engage in social engineering and changing signs.

That said, if you're going to make it convenient to change your signs, be sure to make them secure. If you can't ensure your level of security, don't blame a game for your ineptitude.