Another reason to change the default password
January 29, 2009
KXAN TV is reporting that this week’s early commute past an Austin TX intersection included two roadside safety signs that read “CAUTION! ZOMBIES AHEAD!!” and “ZOMBIES IN AREA RUN” among other messages . Read more or watch the video here. Reporters indicate the perpetrators manually gained logical access to the “password protected” system locked inside each of the self-contained safety signs (i.e. hacked by hand on a dark roadside, not remotely with a password cracker), and that city contractors were consulting with the sign manufacturer regarding the password protection. This implies the signs use a common default password and/or the contractor didn’t know how to change it — likely reducing the “hack” of these public safety devices to a web search for default passwords, and a $20 set of bolt cutters. Obscurity still isn’t any good for security.
Comments
Got something to say?