University of Michigan researchers uncovered three major weaknesses in the traffic light infrastructure.
Green means go...unless your traffic light has been hacked, that is.
- BY STEPHANIE MLOT
- AUGUST 22, 2014
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| Image: University of Michigan |
A new report from University of Michigan researchers finds that traffic light hacking can be a real-life threat. Five members of the school's electrical engineering and computer science department recently published their findings in a paper, appropriately titled "Green Lights Forever."
"[The] critical nature of traffic infrastructure requires that it be secure against computer-based attacks, but this is not always the case," the report said.
In order to test that theory, researchers partnered with a local Michigan road agency to hack into almost 100 wirelessly networked traffic lights, and uncovered three major weaknesses in the traffic infrastructure.
Unsurprisingly, all three fit snugly under the heading "inadequate security": lack of encryption and secure authentication, plus a vulnerability to known exploits. Any three could lead to a denial of service attack, traffic congestion, and light control, among other possibilities.
"With the appropriate hardware and a little effort, an adversary can reconfigure a traffic controller to suit [their] needs," the paper said.
However, the vulnerabilities discovered in the infrastructure are not the fault of any one device or design choice, according to the team, which instead pointed to "a systemic lack of security consciousness."
While there have been no reported cases of serious computer security threats from the Michigan road agency, the MIT Technology Review points out that more than 40 states currently use similar wireless systems.
In hopes of curbing any future issues, the university researchers worked with local officials to provide recommendations, including wireless security, firewalls, firmware updates, and changing default credentials.
Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012.
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