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Lyft now offers public transit directions in the Bay Area
Lyft's public transit directions are available on the company's home turf. Its app now includes routes, schedules and trip planning for public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area, giving you an easier way to minimize car use. You can grab a Muni bus after riding a Bay Wheels bike, or save the ridesharing car for the last hop after a Caltrain trip. The company noted that "many" of it most popular bike share stations and ridesharing points in the region are near bus and train stops, making this a logical extension -- this just streamlines the experience for those travelers.
San Francisco MUNI hacker was hacked
Over the weekend, San Francisco's transit system was hacked by an individual (or group) going by the name Andy Saolis. The attack forced the city to offer Muni rides for free while its staff raced to rectify the breach on its servers. But while Saolis was threatening to expose gigabytes of data if his ransom wasn't paid, they were the subject of a hack themselves. An anonymous individual contacted Krebs on Security, claiming to have breached Saolis' email and found out a few clues as to their identity.
San Francisco transit hackers threaten to expose data
Looks like San Francisco refused to give in to transit system hackers trying to hold the city for ransom. In a conversation with Motherboard, the attackers (still going by "Andy Saolis") have threatened to expose 30GB of Muni databases and documents unless they receive the $73,000 in bitcoin that they demanded alongside the initial hack. They're trying to claim the moral high ground, too. Purportedly, the hack was a "proof of concept" meant to show that the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority doesn't "pay attention to your safety." This forces SFMTA to "do right job," the perpetrators claim in broken English.
San Francisco transit stations fall victim to a hack
San Franciscans just got an all-too-real demonstration of what it's like when hackers attack urban infrastructure. The city's Municipal Transportation Agency has confirmed that the Muni station computer system was hacked, leading officials to open fare gates, shut down ticket kiosks and otherwise make rides free on November 26th. Trains themselves were unaffected, and payments resumed on the morning of the 27th. It's not certain exactly who was responsible (besides "Andy Saolis," likely a pseudonym), but Hoodline understands that the intruders were using ransomware to hold the city hostage until it paid the equivalent of $73,000 in bitcoin. Screens at terminals said "you hacked, ALL data encrypted" and pointed the city to a Russian email address to arrange payment.
Security researchers identify transit system exploit in San Fran and New Jersey, create app to prove it
Mobile security company Intrepidus Group presented evidence during the EUSecWest security conference potentially identifying a major flaw in at least two US transit systems. Creating an Android app named "UltraReset" and using it in tandem with an NFC-enabled Android phone (a Nexus S, in this case), security researchers Corey Benninger and Max Sobell were able to reset and reuse -- free of charge -- transit access cards in both San Francisco's MUNI system and New Jersey's PATH system. Before you go getting any bad ideas, know that Benninger and Sobell haven't released the app for public use, and warned both transit systems in late 2011 (though neither region has fixed the exploit, the duo claim). PATH and MUNI share a common chip access card -- the Mifare Ultralight -- which can apparently be reset for 10 extra rides (as demonstrated on video below) via Android phones with NFC, an OS newer than 2.3.3 (Gingerbread). Starting to sound familiar? Intrepidus is, however, releasing a modified version of the app, named "UltraCardTester." The modified app functions just like its nefarious progenitor, except it can't add time to cards (see it in action below). The app can tell you how many rides you have left, and if a system is open to exploit, but it won't assist you in the act of exploiting. We reached out to both New Jersey's PATH and San Francisco MUNI on the issue, but have yet to hear back as of publishing.
San Francisco bus getting WiFi, deathmatch to follow
Finally things are starting to get a little more futuristic around here. Beginning next Monday, bus riders in San Francisco will get a chance to hop at least one ride that will take them to the Columbus stop, Van Ness stop... and the World of Tomorrow. Thanks to the combined effort of SF's Muni and Cisco, the "Connected Bus" will be hauling around free WiFi and touchscreen maps on its walls (which will also carry updated connecting transit information). Sure, it's no citywide wireless coverage, but combined with the BART train WiFi rollout, it's certainly a start. Cisco tested the bus with 15 riders checking email and downloading music and movies on laptops, and say that the signal was "strong and uninterrupted," though they admit they haven't tested the system during a 15-player fragfest. Anyone up for a ride?[Thanks, Paul in SF]
