[PRCo] Re: FW: [Fwd: Re: OT: Don't Try This at Home...]

[Boris Cefer]

:-D

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward H. Lybarger" <trams2 at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 9:58 PM
Subject: [PRCo] FW: [Fwd: Re: OT: Don't Try This at Home...]


Forwarded per Jim's request.
  _____

From: Jim Holland [mailto:PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com]
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 3:56 PM
To: -> PRCo-- Lybarger, Dr. Ed <-; -> PRCo-- Swindler, Dr. John <-
Subject: [Fwd: Re: OT: Don't Try This at Home...]


Please Send this On To the Pgh-List  --  this comes under the heading of
Transit Always Works Perfectly In Europe!!!!!!!




-------- Original Message -------- 
Subject: Re: OT: Don't Try This at Home...
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:55:28 -0800
From: Jim Holland  <mailto:PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com> <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
To: SFMuniHistory at yahoogroups.com
References: <mailto:4787C0E6.5080408 at netins.net>
<4787C0E6.5080408 at netins.net>


Alan Kline wrote:



I certainly hope Muni is at least a little more advanced than this.....



http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/tram_hack/



Polish teen derails tram after hacking train network

Turns city network into Hornby set

By John Leyden

Published Friday 11th January 2008 11:56 GMT



A Polish teenager allegedly turned the tram system in the city of Lodz into
his own personal train set, triggering chaos and derailing four vehicles in
the process. Twelve people were injured in one of the incidents.



The 14-year-old modified a TV remote control so that it could be used to
change track points, The Telegraph reports. Local police said the youngster
trespassed in tram depots to gather information needed to build the device.
The teenager told police that he modified track setting for a prank.



"He studied the trams and the tracks for a long time and then built a device
that looked like a TV remote control and used it to manoeuvre the trams and
the tracks," said Miroslaw Micor, a spokesman for Lodz police.



"He had converted the television control into a device capable of
controlling all the junctions on the line and wrote in the pages of a school
exercise book where the best junctions were to move trams around and what
signals to change.



"He treated it like any other schoolboy might a giant train set, but it was
lucky nobody was killed. Four trams were derailed, and others had to make
emergency stops that left passengers hurt. He clearly did not think about
the consequences of his actions," Micor added.



Transport command and control systems are commonly designed by engineers
with little exposure or knowledge about security using commodity electronics
and a little native wit. The apparent ease with which Lodz's tram network
was hacked, even by these low standards, is still a bit of an eye opener.



Problems with the signalling system on Lodz's tram network became apparent
on Tuesday when a driver attempting to steer his vehicle to the right was
involuntarily taken to the left. As a result the rear wagon of the train
jumped the rails and collided with another passing tram. Transport staff
immediately suspected outside interference.



The youth, described by his teachers as an electronics buff and exemplary
student, faces charges at a special juvenile court of endangering public
safety. R"