On Wednesday, a prankster hacked into a traffic indicator in Provo, Utah, and programmed it to read “God Hates Gays.”
The Utah Department of Transport ordered the construction company operating the message board, located on University Avenue at East Bay, to remove the slur.
“Sometime after 10 p.m. someone got into the message board—the boards can’t be accessed remotely and are locked on the outside,” said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Leigh Dethman, admitting the board was accidentally unsecured. “We take this very seriously. Obviously this is a very offensive message.” Mayor John Curtis says the culprit “doesn’t represent the minds and hearts of the residents of Provo.”
The department is investigating the incident, but since there are no security cameras filming the area finding the perpetrator will prove difficult.
Biting Truth
LOL
sfbeast
the biggest surprise here is that the hater actually knows how to spell. what a change
RJM
Utah County, after Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Celestial Earth!
Chuck
@sfbeast: I was shocked and amazed as well.
cam
So it is supposed to be secured so nobody from outside can hack in. And after this happens they admit that it was “Accidentally” left unsecured.
Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh……or somebody in their office did it and they are just covering their ass.
Scribe37
This has happened a few times in Michigan too. This year someone broke into one and put a racist statement about the Martin case.
Hephaestion
An inside job, not a hacking, I’d bet.
mike ramon
Of course it was an inside job just question the ones who know how to operate one of those things and threaten them with termination, they’ll roll over like a trained seal.One good thing, if you can call it good, the jerk used gay instead of fag, we’re coming up guys.
B
No. 5 · cam wrote, “So it is supposed to be secured so nobody from outside can hack in. And after this happens they admit that it was “Accidentally” left unsecured.”
It wasn’t “hacking” as that term is normally used. It was more like leaving the front door of your house unlocked while out, with your computer on, and finding that someone walked in and used your computer to send email.
Apparently a door or panel allowing access to the computer was not locked as it should have been. There is probably a keyboard and small display inside that allows you to change the message on the sign (for the convenience of construction workers, who might not have a laptop at the site), although you might have to bring a laptop and use the serial port. It could have been an inside job or someone might have intended to pick the lock and found that it wasn’t even locked, or they were going around to various locations looking for an unlocked sign (just as some burglars look for unlocked houses).
marc
What is the most disturbing thing about this is that the large majority of the citizens of Provo believe exactly that. We are anethema to their belief structures, their religion, and their concept of normal. While overt acts like this are still surprising, they no longer shock me. As a gay man, and a member of what amounts to a micro-minority, I do not expect the majority to ever accept or even aknowledge us as equal members of society. I do,however, demand equal rights under the law, as long as I am a law abiding citizen of this country. Let them dislike my choice of love, but by god, give me my equal rights!
Chris
My dog was laying on the floor and left his tummy exposed, so I put my hacking skills to work. TUMMY ATTACK!!!