More road safety sign hacking

By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2009-02-05

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Since our previous article on the hacking of programmable roadside traffic information signs there have been more instances of sign hacking. Police are warning that they do not regard these hacking efforts as pranks but as vandalism which could have serious consequences.

An article at the I-hacked.com site describes how easy it is to break into the portable signs and change the programming. But, police say, changing an information sign could have serious consequences and could be potentially treated as a felony if a crash resulted and there were injuries or deaths..

"This is an issue that poses a potential danger to the traveling public and our crews," said Washington State DOT Chief Engineer Jerry Lenzi, in a news release yesterday. The warning came after a local sign was hacked and its message changed to a reference to a blog about cars.

Messages on portable programmable road signs are not connected to a central computer but are programmed individually at the job site.

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