Mischievous duo plead not guilty to LA traffic hacking scandal

We've seen our fair share of scheming and conniving, but a duo of engineers that were previously employed by LA's Automated Traffic Surveillance Center allegedly pulled off one of the most impactful jobs we've ever heard of. Both men have just pled not guilty to charges of "manipulating traffic signals to disrupt transportation across the city in the run-up to a union protest last August," a case which pins them with deeds such as identity theft and illegally using those 1337 skills to wreck havoc. In a situation eerily similar to that seen in The Italian Job, the pair overrode intentional barriers to access the traffic light system in LA, and proceeded to not only force lights to stay red for extended periods of time in some of the city's most critical and congested intersections, but locked out city officials from entering back in and reversing the changes as well. Ranking right up there beside the numerous ATM hacks we've seen, this job led to massive amount of chaos in the following days, creating gridlocks in some areas that reportedly took "four days" to totally clear out. If convicted, the two could face several years in prison, but if not, we're sure risk-loving tech executives everywhere are drooling to pick these two up and put 'em to (honest, law-abiding) work.

[Via The Register]

[John Doe @ Jan 11th 2007 12:10PM]

Obviously they watched Hackers a few to many times. :-P

[Gil @ Jan 11th 2007 12:58PM]

So where's the gold?

[Tim UF @ Jan 11th 2007 1:04PM]

Yea, all they are missing is Charlize doin her thing in a mini... (or handsome rob for the ladies)

[NHAnimator @ Jan 11th 2007 1:11PM]

Throw the book at 'em. Imagine being in the back of an ambulance when these jerks jam up the roadway in front of you.

[JON BLAST @ Jan 11th 2007 3:25PM]

Seriously, lock these jerks up forever.

Maybe the judge can make them suffer through The Italian Job (the 2003 version) as punishment. God what a horrible movie.

[guerro @ Jan 11th 2007 1:51PM]

Notes: wreak means to cause something, especially trouble; wreck means to destroy something.


I hardly thing they destroyed havoc. They most likely caused havoc.

[NHAnimator @ Jan 11th 2007 2:14PM]

So it's correct to say that they could have wreaked wrecks?

[Matthew @ Jan 11th 2007 3:32PM]

@guerro
Think means to use your brain. Thing means... well you get the idea.

[Eric @ Jan 11th 2007 1:48PM]

If they are pleading not guilty shouldn't this article contain more uses of the word "allegedly"?

[ahhboo @ Jan 11th 2007 2:04PM]

It sounds funny at first, but on further consideration, it was a selfish, short-sighted, costly act. The cost is not just measured in the lost time of gridlocked commuters, but in missed appointments, missed flights, and missed emergency services. I would expect lives were lost due to the gridlock.

[ark_v2 @ Jan 11th 2007 2:06PM]

:o, they are 1337 indeed

[whitehorse @ Jan 11th 2007 2:59PM]

These guys are most certainly not 1337 (or leet, which by the way is a homo wannabe hackers way of thinking they are cool). Read sentence #1 "but a duo of engineers that were previously employed by LA's Automated Traffic Surveillance Center" how hard is it to "HACK" something you already know every nuance of. That's like me writing a back door into my software and then saying I hacked it because I simply logged right. These moron's probably used their own usernames to log in!

[Will @ Jan 11th 2007 2:28PM]

MIRT

[Freddy @ Jan 11th 2007 2:58PM]

Your segment carries a tone of enchantment for the caper. Hacks quit being amusing or praiseworthy when they quite realistically could lead to people dying. No, really.

[derrik @ Jan 11th 2007 6:01PM]

Cmon traffic already sucked, it was just worse that day

[Z @ Jan 11th 2007 4:22PM]

Another reason I'm glad I don't live in L.A.

[Willie the Timing Monkey @ Jan 11th 2007 6:32PM]

Don't believe everything you read from such reliable sources as the LA Times. Details will shake out over the course of the trial and the errors of the investigation will shake out.

A lot of people will have very large eggs on their face at the end of the day.

[I Escaped LA @ Jan 11th 2007 5:21PM]

There are endless reasons for not living in LA. These guys should have just applied for a job at Google and would have been better off...they'd be moving to the bay area (leaving LA) and have a nice job! (if it's at Google, it's likely better than prison...)

[rolfo87 @ Jan 11th 2007 11:01PM]

i thought those systems were kinda like CCTV systems, no connection to the "internets" or something like that...they couldve used the VPN they sure were using, but still...4 days to clear the mess up? dont they have a reset button?