Teen hacks tram system, derails trains

In yet another "innocent prank" that turned out to have very real-world effects, a 14-year-old Polish boy has admitted to modifying a TV remote in order to manipulate the junction-switching devices on the Lodz tram system, resulting in four derailed trains and 12 injuries. According to reports, the teenager snuck onto tracks to study the switching mechanisms, and used the resulting knowledge to re-direct trains "like any other schoolboy might a giant train set," as a police spokesman put it. The young man now faces charges in juvenile court for endangering public safety.

[Alan Friesen @ Jan 11th 2008 3:55PM]

Or maybe, just maybe, they should suspend any sentence he receives and put him to work? It's obvious that this kid was not only bored, but bright. Make him work off the damage he caused and give him a chance to give back to society, rather than shoving him in juvie (or whatever Polish equivalent exists).

[Jeff @ Jan 11th 2008 4:00PM]

Better yet, why not reward all the criminals with IQ's over 100 with a job?

Come on, man. So he displayed an ability to learn. What's rewarding him for committing a crime going to teach him?

And just as importantly, what kind of society rewards those who commit "smart" crimes but punishes those who commit "dumb" crimes? Talk about genetic discrimination...

[bob sakamano @ Jan 11th 2008 4:00PM]

I heard the only thing the Lodz Tram people had to deter hackers was the free anti virus software they got with their AOL (the parent company of this website,... sorry people on TV always say things like that and I always wanted to myself).

Honestly, modifying a TV remote?!?!?!?!? I can see how it happened... he was sitting at home watching reruns of Knight Rider (Pols love David Hasselhoff too), looking out the window and seeing the trains running, then having that light bulb over head moment where he realized he could somehow control the trains from the remote control.

[Aaron Wanker @ Jan 11th 2008 4:00PM]

I agree completely. If somebody commits a stupid crime, or injures many people out of stupidity, then yes put them in jail/juvie/whatever. But if their brains got a little too far ahead of their common sense, put them to work and help them develop their skills/talents towards a good end.

[Aaron Wanker @ Jan 11th 2008 4:00PM]

I agree completely. If somebody commits a stupid crime, or injures many people out of stupidity, then yes put them in jail/juvie/whatever. But if their brains got a little too far ahead of their common sense, put them to work and help them develop their skills/talents towards a good end.

[tom @ Jan 11th 2008 4:01PM]

I wonder if that's a harmony remote LOL

[Jeff @ Jan 11th 2008 4:04PM]

God, people, use your heads.

Can't afford job training? Hell, injure 12 people and the state will give it to you for free!

Criminals are criminals. Yes, there should be consideration of his age, but *not* how "smart" he is. Justice is based on fairness, and there's no fairness in rewarding a criminal because he was born smart. If he commits a crime, he should be treated the same way as anybody else.

[Aaron Wanker @ Jan 11th 2008 4:09PM]

@Jeff

Just because somebody is not the sharpest tool in the shed, does not mean that it's genetics. I know plenty of kids who can learn just as well as the rest of us and choose not to.

Plus what I meant, and what I assume Alan meant by "stupid" is basically purposefully harming people, or committing a crime when there is no 'need' too by virtue of the fact that there are many times completely acceptable alternatives (i.e. robbery)

Also, would you not be enamored by the ability to control trams, like they were toys? people getting off at the wrong spots, etc. plus just the thought of "wow, I can mod this device to control that completely urelated device..." and then seeing your handy-work succeed?

[John @ Jan 11th 2008 4:14PM]

The kid deserves jail time or a being committed to a psych ward. He fucked around with trains. Big, massive pieces of metal that go very fast and carry people. 14 years old, there is no way he was unaware that he could do serious damage, injure or even kill people. Jobs are for people who can appreciate consequences. Prison is for people who can't.

[tekdroid @ Jan 11th 2008 4:15PM]

i suspect if you were a 'victim' of this smartness you'd see things differently.

[NG @ Jan 11th 2008 4:35PM]

EXACTLY.
Putting him into jail right now only make him to a worst criminal after he's out. Straighten him out right now and put him to the right track.

[n3rd @ Jan 11th 2008 5:08PM]

"I know plenty of kids who can learn just as well as the rest of us and choose not to."

You could argue that their unwillingness to learn is because of their genetics too

[Sauerkraut @ Jan 11th 2008 5:27PM]

He derailed a train so he's smart????
Sounds like the kid is a retard

[garbuhj @ Jan 11th 2008 6:44PM]

Why are you people arguing as if these options are either/or? Clearly he should be punished for committing a crime that hurt people, but also clearly he is a very smart kid who is clearly lacking direction and instruction. He should be sentenced to some sort of punishment, but as part of his sentence he should be ordered to enter into an after school program that will guide his intellectual future so he doesn't wind up putting it to malicious use again. Unguided talent is a recipe for trouble, and is a loss to the community.

[Mikey @ Jan 11th 2008 6:47PM]

@ Jeff

"And just as importantly, what kind of society rewards those who commit "smart" crimes but punishes those who commit "dumb" crimes? Talk about genetic discrimination..."

Talk about the United States of America...

White collar crimes generally get lesser punishments than blue collar.

[Jon Doe @ Jan 13th 2008 2:44AM]

That is just stupid. So I take out someone from 300 yards away with a sniper rifle. Should I get a a get out of jail free card from the Army?

[Grant @ Jan 11th 2008 10:18PM]

reading and copying IR signals does not really take any sort of ingenuity. Any teenager who tinkers for fun has played with IR signals at one point and there are many pieces of software and IR kits out there to further encourage this.

If this kid was really a brain, he would have known the probable results of his tinkering and done more research to make sure no one would get hurt before performing any real tests.

[atlasfugged @ Jan 11th 2008 11:34PM]

Shouldn't he had been intelligent enough to realize the illegality and potential harm of his actions?

Intelligence and ingenuity do not excuse bad behavior and, indeed, make such behavior more reprehensible. The cleverer one is the more difficult it is to believe he didn't know any better or that he could not foresee the harm of his actions.

[atlasfugged @ Jan 11th 2008 11:39PM]

@Mikey: that's not always true. sometimes the punishments for white-collar crimes can verge on excessive relative to the harm done to society or relative to the punishments of ostensibly worse non-white-collar crimes.

btw. what are blue-collar crimes, anyway? are these crimes involving hand tools?

[tekdemon @ Jan 12th 2008 5:33AM]

No, the kid isn't smart because only a real dumbass would think it's a good idea to mess around with trains with actual people on them.
"Oh look, I can change where the rails go! But I am too stupid to realize that if I do this when the trains come I risk killing the people on them!"

I knew lots of smart kids growing up, and yeah some of them did stupid stuff, but they always did it where they couldn't really hurt other people. If a kid is too sociopathic or stupid to realize that messing around with dangerous stuff like train rail controls is an idiotic idea, then he's not smart at all, and if you develop his reckless idiocy you'll end up training some moron who's going to end up killing millions of people when he decides it'd be good to test his new super-virus by unleashing it on the public.

Seriously, the really smart kids are the ones who saw them programming the switches, figured out how it could be done, then chose not to screw with the system and risk killing other people. I mean you can go around and figure out how to rig everyone's car brakes to fail suddenly, but that doesn't mean you should do it either.

[bob sakamano @ Jan 11th 2008 3:56PM]

andddd the flagaan

[Brian @ Jan 11th 2008 3:57PM]

That's pretty badass. Smart kid!

[Bobs @ Jan 11th 2008 9:06PM]

Screwing with trains and harming people are not "badass".

[johnham @ Jan 11th 2008 3:58PM]

I call the big one "Bitey".

[kevjohn @ Jan 11th 2008 3:59PM]

What an adorable little scamp.


Now, to jail with him!!!!

[Sauerkraut @ Jan 11th 2008 5:27PM]

lmao

[Alex @ Jan 11th 2008 4:01PM]

Trams, not trains. TRAMS. You know, a muni rail thingie. RTFA

[nephersir7 @ Jan 11th 2008 4:40PM]

Idiot. A tram is like a city train that uses the juice of suspended wires. It's not a monorail or whatever is the english word for it.

[OneAboveAll @ Jan 11th 2008 4:03PM]

Well he's sure catch a "train" in juvie...

[ITsPennywise @ Jan 11th 2008 4:41PM]

@OneAboveAll:

LMAO...That was good. Kudos my friend.

Anyways, anyone who thinks this kid should get rewarded with a job is a malcontent...Honestly, what if someone would have been killed? Still think the same then? What if the person killed was your wife or significant other?

You'd want the kid tried as an adult and hung. Let's get real people. He stepped way over the line and was EXTREMELY lucky that no one was seriously hurt.

Good luck with the trains in juvie...hahaha.

[John @ Jan 11th 2008 7:57PM]

Lucky men are hung... unlucky men are hanged.

[moder @ Jan 11th 2008 4:13PM]

Sounds like he just used a learning remote to capture the IR signals used for the switch control. Not really that sophisticated.

Next someone will be suggesting we reward idiots who disrupt trade shows:
http://gizmodo.com/343348/confessions-the-meanest-thing-gizmodo-did-at-ces

[BigD145 @ Jan 11th 2008 4:25PM]

Not sophisticated, but it is a leap in logic. The kid at least has an above average IQ.

[EBone @ Jan 11th 2008 4:32PM]

Turning off a televsion is an innocent prank. Switching train tracks is not. Might want to check your hyperbole meter.

[Kelvin @ Jan 11th 2008 9:22PM]

Haha the screens prank was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw "innocent prank" in quotation marks. With that, and them admitting to Veronica's supreme beauty on their own blog, it's pretty clear Engadget's the one that's totally whopping ass right now ;-)

[http:www.granitecalgary.com @ Jan 11th 2008 4:25PM]

I'm so glad no one go killed ...
Geez ... Kids should really use their heads more.

[Marcin @ Jan 11th 2008 4:29PM]

what the hell is up with poland and hacking? these kids need to put their skills to good use instead of doing stupid stuff like derailing trains.

[Technex @ Jan 11th 2008 4:38PM]

He's smart. But it's still dangerous...

[Technex @ Jan 11th 2008 4:39PM]

He's smart. But it's still dangerous... (If this turns out to be a double post it's because Engadget has fucked the comment system up. CLICKED ONCE)

[olewales @ Jan 11th 2008 4:43PM]

Here is the video and some photos showing equipment he used. He definetely didn't use ordinary universal remote control. http://www.tvn24.pl/12690,1534811,wiadomosc.html (page in polish)

[Max Goedjen @ Jan 11th 2008 4:45PM]

My question is, why the hell are railroad switches controlled by simple IR signals anyway? Think this'd be kinda inevitable, even if it did happen on accident.

[parsonspixie @ Jan 11th 2008 4:53PM]

ha, thats brilliant

[john @ Jan 11th 2008 4:56PM]

Maybe he could cover CES for Gizmodo next year.

[slice39 @ Jan 11th 2008 5:02PM]

RESPECT!

[helloUser @ Jan 11th 2008 5:10PM]

Ah, yes. Yet another example, of how, contrary to popular belief, us polaks are very smart. :)

[bo sneb @ Jan 11th 2008 10:55PM]

i think the fact that the train system was able to be hacked in such a fashion negates your point here.

[robwariii @ Jan 11th 2008 5:10PM]

this isn't about being smart. It's knowing right from wrong. he injured people. and some could have died. i played pranks when i was a kid. but death as a result is unsettling.

[wesg @ Jan 11th 2008 5:26PM]

+1 for the Simpsons reference

[bo sneb @ Jan 11th 2008 5:28PM]

smart enough to hack an electronic gizmo, but not smart enough to realize he shouldn't. not so smart after all.

[Jagannath A @ Jan 11th 2008 9:47PM]

+1