Hacked (Utah) I-15 sign flashed ‘God Hates Gays’
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
After one of its mobile construction-zone message signs on Interstate 15 flashed "God Hates Gays," the Utah Department of Transportation says it is now busy ensuring such signs are secured to prevent passers-by from reprogramming them.
On Tuesday night, a sign at Provo’s University Avenue exit alternated flashing "Follow detour," and "God Hates Gays."
... Leigh Dethman, spokeswoman for the I-15 Corridor Expansion project that is rebuilding the freeway in Utah County, ... said the sign was not secured, allowing any passer-by to reprogram it. "So anyone could have done this," she said.
... The online video was attracting plenty of negative comments — so one Provo spokeswoman even added a comment there saying the city did not do it, and condemned the message.
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54666287-90/sign-message-signs-dethman.html.csp
= new reply since forum marked as read
From the website:
This was the first time I had attempted a prank like this, so I expected the control box to be locked, and the programming functions password-protected. I was wrong. First of all, the control cabinet had no lock. Swinging open its door, I found a deliciously inviting handheld keypad, then took a wild guess and pushed a button labeled STOP. The display on the control box flashed ENTER PASSWORD. I was about to give up in disgust when I noticed that someone had written the password in large Sharpie lettering above the box.
With only a few minutes of road sign hacking, I had programmed an homage to the 1951 sci-fi film The Day The Earth Stood Still, the phrase that was used to stop Gort, the robot in the film, from taking over the world.
