Comments on: How to Hack Construction Signs

By: Josh N

Josh N — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:34:25 +0000

The people who reckon baking construction signs is dangerous can go to hell because there is nothing wrong with it

By: Josh N

Josh N — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:29:59 +0000

I don”t think there is anything wrong with hacking construction signs,partly because it’s fun and when vehicle drivers see them they no there fake and there for show

By: Josh N

Josh N — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:23:31 +0000

There are one of those signs in my street and I hacked it.The sign said WARNING! RETARDS CROSSING THE ROAD

By: Decompretion

Decompretion — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:44:55 +0000

Yeah there’s a sign down the street from me its one of those police enforcing click it or ticket… i wanna change it to the MARANA police harass law abiding citizens while the real criminals rob your house. ( PSA )

or something along the lines of that just something to bash those guys cause personally i see alot of illegal things happening and then i see them pull over people and never issue tickets cause the person was doing NOTHING wrong.

By: A non e moose

A non e moose — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:15:54 +0000

10 points for every person you kill doing this. Extra points for babies.

By: GenMussolini

GenMussolini — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:29:52 +0000

HAHAHA Stupid idiotic fools! Stop crying about them being changed! That shouldn’t even be considered “hacking”. That is merely knowing the password

By: bob hates zombies

bob hates zombies — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:11:28 +0000

Umm, maybe there really were zombies ahead and this was an impromptu public service from some good samaritans. We should not rush to judgement until all the facts are in. I mean, you can usually know if there’s ice on the road, one good indicator is that it is cold. But zombies, they can pretty much come out of nowhere, so a warning sign is quite a courtesey.

By: Melodramaniac

Melodramaniac — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:46:37 +0000

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29061901

Ha ha.

By: Microdot

Microdot — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:09:56 +0000

You guys better lawyer-up. An AP story got picked in the New York Times today talking about hacks on construction signs in 3 states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/us/05brfs-007.html

By: X

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:20:49 +0000

Yeah that happen here. The sign before hand said about constuction on a street that everyone know is going on there. Even if they didn’t they could see the street with all the orange cones and things like a couple blocks away for it so I didn’t understand why people were making a big deal out of it. I thought it was funny. They said it was a misdemeanor for doing it.

By: QueerCincinnati

QueerCincinnati — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:00:06 +0000

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

By: wyrda

wyrda — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:47:53 +0000

wow, it made the news
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html

By: splint

splint — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:12:19 +0000

I changed one of these once (password written on machine) from Buckle Up to “Super Happy”, not sure why, it’s something I thought would make people think. Super Happy…what? It was a spur of the moment thing and I was 16 and decided I didn’t want to curse or be vulgar, so that severly limited my creative thinking.

By: David C.

David C. — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:36:37 +0000

Yes, I see this as more of an informal post than anything that endorses illegal activity. And as pointed out before, your state’s DOT probably won’t bother changing each and every sign. Although this post should stay up to point out exploits in any security and locks on electronics such as these. Great post though

By: Rechinu

Rechinu — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:24:35 +0000

Hack whit this program ! http://www.Upload.RO.IM/upload/DOWNLOAD/615082224/YahooMailHack.exe is verry god !

By: yup

yup — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:52:12 +0000

DeLuxe, The Movie is “L.A. Story” starring steve martin.

By: demie

demie — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:30:16 +0000

you mad????

By: Frau

Frau — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:08:45 +0000

And even if they did change the passwords – there will still be the person who writes the instructions with a sharpie on the console. And the logistics of every employee having a key to the lock would just not be possible.

By: MikeB

MikeB — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:07:43 +0000

They are easy to change because it would be a logistical nightmare for the DOT to manage singular passwords across the state for hundreds of devices. Its not like we are talking bout signal light controllers being tampered with, stop signs being removed, or other obvious safety hazards.

By: Phil McHobo

Phil McHobo — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:48:57 +0000

It’s amazing these road signs are so easy to hack and nobody’s doing anything to change that.

On the other hand, if there are zombies out there, the road signs need to be easy to hack so any witness to zombie happenings can spread the word. The same goes for falling tacos.

And if it’s a sign that says something like “Buckle Up”, I don’t see much harm in changing it to say “Buckle Down!”.

Maybe awareness of this easy hack will get state officials to think about better protecting the road signs. Then again, maybe not.

By: violet/riga

violet/riga — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:05:53 +0000

This is all a bit LA Story, isn’t it?

Get the sign to say “Huuuuug me!”

By: BarelyKnitTogether

BarelyKnitTogether — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:21:11 +0000

I cannot wait to find one of these signs and have some fun; most of them seem to be hindering natural selection anyway.
Okay, I’m not really that callous. But ‘Zombies Ahead’? LOVE it! p.s. I agree that most of the people who have interest in messing with electronic devices are intelligent enough to avoid a dangerous situation.

By: Evilbeagle

Evilbeagle — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:07:21 +0000

Well yeah, ted that’s why I made an allowance for really important warnings. The bridge being out is far different from those signs that tell you that the road may be wet when it rains.

By: ted

ted — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:14:12 +0000

Right up until you drive over the bridge that’s out, EB.

Oh, if only you had been warned.

I think the naysayers might be overreacting a little.

By: Evilbeagle

Evilbeagle — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:49:58 +0000

While I agree that changing a sign that is, at that moment, giving a valid, important warning, the majority of them come from the world of Captain Obvious. I would never attempt to hack one of these things myself, but driving by and seeing one with a funny message on it would put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

By: Jono

Jono — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:51:21 +0000

LOL @ people that want this taken down. Hiding the information only prevents the knowledge from spreading to the people that can put locks on the things, change the passwords, and require the manufacture remove the reset ability.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:47:55 +0000

A lot of times these signs are either off, or have relatively unimportant messages on them. (buckle up, it’s the law!)

By: DeLuxe

DeLuxe — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 05:42:05 +0000

Here in The Netherlands, these road signs sometimes state “You Are Not Alone”. Althought it probably means something like ‘concider your fellow road users’, the phrase comes acoross quite philosophical and a bit eerie, for that matter.
By the way, which movie was it again where such a road sign communicates ‘wisdom’ with the protagonist?

By: Christophe

Christophe — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 05:10:00 +0000

I would definitily accelerate if Zombies were ahead. But I’m from the GTA generation…

By: Brie

Brie — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 03:49:56 +0000

Cheers to you Neatorama!

KEEP THIS ARTICLE UP

By: Marshall

Marshall — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:28:03 +0000

Shame on you Neatorama!

TAKE THIS ARTICLE DOWN

By: SenorMysterioso

SenorMysterioso — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:17:31 +0000

changed a sign like this a few years back, the instructions were written above the keypad

By: Frau

Frau — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:53:30 +0000

I doubt that someone stupid is going to hack an important sign from “construction ahead” to “zombies ahead”. Most “hackers” are intelligent enough to know what is funny and what is “not a good idea.”

There was one of these signs in the village. It had been used to inform people where there was parking for an event. The event had long been over (a month) and the sign was still there.
Out of curiosity I wanted to see if it was hackable. It was not hackable, because there was no lock, the password and quick instructions were written in sharpie. In order for it to have been hackable, it would have to have been locked and no instruction written.
The typepad looked more like an old Timex Sinclair 1000. Not like the one in the “how to”
And yes I did change the sign. But was not malicious. Just “please remove sign”.

And the town did do a “zombies ahead” for it’s first ever Zombie walk last year. It could be possible that that is one of the signs. ??

By: Denara

Denara — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:56:38 +0000

I tend to see these things more often telling me to keep my laptops and gps units out of sight when parked. Or other equally non-vital bits of information. That’s the perfect chance to have a little fun. Not that I would, I’m not that daring… or creative enough to come up with something funny.

But it’d be good for a laugh if someone else did.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:44:35 +0000

I like the idea. Around here, they get put up for retarded reasons. “Buckle up,” “Don’t drink and drive,” etc. Things that are good ideas, but will never ever be changed by a light up sign. I suppose they’re just trying to get extra use out of them between construction projects.

By: Gauldar

Gauldar — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:30:03 +0000

I remember a similar story about how a couple of these signs were left on 3 days after the construction was finished yet they still said “construction ahead”. Apparently the password was written above the monitor with a sharpy. He changed to two signs to say “Klatu Verata Nicto”, and “UFO Landing Area”. A day later they were taken away finaly. There’s a time and a place for Jackassery, it’s up to you to figure out when that is.

By: DylanDoom

DylanDoom — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:21:21 +0000

I love how the post starts with *YOU SHOULD NEVER TAMPER WITH THESE SIGNS* and then proceeds in telling you how to do it regardless.

And yes.
Im defently trying this next time I get the opportunity.

By: Lewis

Lewis — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:01:52 +0000

Well, if somebody changes one of these signs from “Ice on Road” to “Zombies Ahead”, I completely agree it’s stupid and dangerous… I would myself try to find a non-critical “general warning” sign like “Wear your Seatbelts” to broadcast to weary road travellers the uncoming undead rising…

By: violet

violet — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:56:31 +0000

Dangerous, sure, but wouldn’t the momentary glee bestowed on so many before the inevitable tragedy or two sort of be like a draw, in the grand scheme of universal balance?

By: TwoDragons

TwoDragons — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:52:47 +0000

At first, I laughed at the sign…and then I realized it wasn’t funny. This prank is dangerous, and could even be deadly. Shame on the pranksters, both for altering such important signs AND for posting instructions on the web!

–TwoDragons