(Jan. 29) – The Austin, Texas, commute turned surreal this week after hackers replaced official traffic warnings on digital signs with some of their own.
"Zombies ahead! Run for your lives!" read one altered sign, according to KXAN in Austin.
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"Nazi Zombies! Run!!!" warned another, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The pranksters apparently cut the padlocks that guard the computers on each individual sign, the local media reported, and hacked the computer password. The new signs went up Monday morning.
No zombies were actually sighted. The most obvious problem seemed to be rubber-necking drivers slowing down to photograph the fright-fest warnings.
Nevertheless, officials were quick to take the hooligans to task.
"This is really serious, and it is a crime," Sara Hartley, a spokeswoman for the city Public Works Department, told KXAN.
"It's sort of amusing, but not at all helpful," said Chris Lippincott, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, according to Fox News. The network noted that tampering with road signs is a misdemeanor crime.
The hackers didn't make fixes easy for officials, either. The Dallas Morning News reported that after changing the signs, they changed the passwords, too.
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Lefteris Pitarakis, AP
Lefteris Pitarakis, AP
The city had to wait several hours until the manufacture reset the passwords before the warnings could be changed.
