Do you have a zombie plan?

[Mr.G]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html

You better if you're driving through Texas. :p

[Philly_SWAT]

http://www.foxnews.com/images/497121/0_61_zombies_320.jpg

LOL, classic!

[AcesandEights]

No way!

That's classic!:lol: I'll be holding onto that image for the databanks, myself.

Good find!

[MaximusIncredulous]

Could make a nice avatar.

[Skippy911sc]

That is FANTASTIC!!!

[Kaos]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html

Hackers Crack Into Texas Road Sign, Warn of Zombies Ahead

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 http://www.foxnews.com/images/foxnews_story.gif
By Joshua Rhett Miller
http://www.foxnews.com/images/497121/0_61_zombies_320.jpg (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html#) i-hacked.com

Texas Dept. of Transportation officials confirm a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street in Austin was hacked into last week.

Transportation officials in Texas are scrambling to prevent hackers from changing messages on digital road signs after one sign in Austin was altered to read, "Zombies Ahead."

Chris Lippincott, director of media relations for the Texas Department of Transportation, confirmed that a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street, near the University of Texas at Austin, was hacked into during the early hours of Jan. 19.


"It was clever, kind of cute, but not what it was intended for," said Lippincott, who saw the sign during his morning commute. "Those signs are deployed for a reason — to improve traffic conditions, let folks know there's a road closure."


"It's sort of amusing, but not at all helpful," he told FOXNews.com.

Tampering with portable road signs is illegal and potentially dangerous to drivers. It is a misdemeanor in Texas, with penalties ranging from fines to potential jail time.



Lippincott said the hacked sign — manufactured by IMAGO — is owned and operated by the city of Austin. Texas Department of Transportation signs have not been affected, he said.


"It is always possible that it could occur, but we attempt to prevent hacking incidents," Lippincott wrote in an e-mail. He declined to comment on security measures to protect the state's signs from hackers.


Austin Public Works spokeswoman Sara Hartley said the incident was not initially reported to police, but will be shortly. The sign was reverted back to its original message within hours, according to Hartley, who insisted the signs are tamper-resistant and equipped with external locks.


"This sign was broken into, it was not just a 'walk up and change the sign' kind of thing," Hartley told FOXNews.com. "This is a new one for us, we've never had it happen before."


She said she did not know whether any other signs in the area had been altered.


According to the blog i-hacked.com, some commercial road signs, including those manufactured by IMAGO's ADDCO division, can be easily altered because their instrument panels are frequently left unlocked and their default passwords are not changed.


"Programming is as simple as scrolling down the menu selection," i-hacked.com reports. "Type whatever you want to display … In all likelihood, the crew will not have changed [the password]."


I-hacked.com warns readers not to try to alter the signs, which cost roughly $15,000.


ADDCO Chief Operating Officer Brian Nicholson told FOXNews.com that the company is sending out notices to customers on the potentially dangerous security flaw.


"It's incumbent upon users to change the default password and secure the sign with a padlock," Nicholson said. "We're having our engineers review this information."


In the meantime, if you're driving in Austin, you can rest assured: There are no zombies ahead.

[AcesandEights]

merge? (http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?t=12905)

[Kaos]

Good idea.

[Philly_SWAT]

I just saw a clip about this on the local news (even though it isnt a local story, which goes to show one thing...zombies = ratings! ) . They showed the sign in operation. I never saw it say "zombies ahead" like the pic I posted above, but it said "Nazi zombies ahead" then switched to "run for your lives". LOL

[strayrider]

It's all in fun until someone gets hurt.

:D

-stray-

[Danny]

very cool, for a minute i thought this was gonna be one of those survivalist nut-job extremist topics about "what gun would you use to get that exuisit' and/ or su'poib hedshot?" or something.

it has been a while since one of them showed up.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Awesome stuff.

And of course Just about every one of my zombie extras has emailed that to me in the last 10 hours.

You can see a video report where some signs had other zombie messages.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/Road_signs_warn_of_zombies

[DjfunkmasterG]

And the hits keep on coming.

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Hackers are messing with electronic road signs in some states, warning of zombies and raptors down the road. Traffic safety officials aren't amused.
The latest breach came during Tuesday morning's rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., east of St. Louis. That's where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES."
Similar pranks have been pulled in recent days near Indianapolis and in Austin, Texas.
The Illinois Department of Transportation's Joe Gasaway worries that such pranks distract drivers from legitimate hazards down the road, perhaps endangering road crews.
In Illinois, tampering with an official traffic control device is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $250 fine.

[Cody]

very cool, for a minute i thought this was gonna be one of those survivalist nut-job extremist topics about "what gun would you use to get that exuisit' and/ or su'poib hedshot?" or something.

no kidding. awesome thread to have instead

[brer]

Hints and handy helpers.

The road signs are shipped with a default password which is rarely changed.

If the password is changed there is a master password hard coded into the system to allow a user to change the password if needed.

In the interest of peace, harmony, and the other blond hippy chick I like, I'm not giving out either one of the passwords.:p

[MoonSylver]

Hints and handy helpers.

The road signs are shipped with a default password which is rarely changed.

If the password is changed there is a master password hard coded into the system to allow a user to change the password if needed.

In the interest of peace, harmony, and the other blond hippy chick I like, I'm not giving out either one of the passwords.:p

That's probably a good idea. People might start putting up signs like "Warning Zombies Ahead" or something.;)

[Safari Mike]

Ok, being the only one from the Republic of Texas here, had I saw the sign in Austin I'd have done...... nothing.....like most other Texas folk. We carry guns so commuting through a fog of zombies wouldn't be much differet from trying to get past a pack of begging hippie dope head beggers on 6th street in Austin at 8 a.m. Sure we might shoot off a magazine of .40 cal +p+ hollowpoints while getting our coffee at the corner store, but who doesn't?

[fartpants]

you americans would have such a head start in the undead survival stakes as u have access to all sorts of weapons that us brits could only dream of getting our hands on

[MoonSylver]

Ok, being the only one from the Republic of Texas here, had I saw the sign in Austin I'd have done...... nothing.....like most other Texas folk. We carry guns so commuting through a fog of zombies wouldn't be much differet from trying to get past a pack of begging hippie dope head beggers on 6th street in Austin at 8 a.m. Sure we might shoot off a magazine of .40 cal +p+ hollowpoints while getting our coffee at the corner store, but who doesn't?

Yeah, some parts of the country are definitely better prepared than others...:)


you americans would have such a head start in the undead survival stakes as u have access to all sorts of weapons that us brits could only dream of getting our hands on

Funny, I was thinking the very same thing last night while watching "Dead Set" for the first time.