Protecting road signs from tampering

AUSTIN (KXAN) - What began as a prank in Austin has now spread across the country. Pranksters seem to be following the cue of a hacker website that published step by step instructions on how to break into a digital road sign and change the message.

Last week , the messages on two road signs on Lamar were changed to warn of zombies ahead, instead of upcoming construction. Tuesday morning, hackers in Illinois pulled a similar prank during morning rush hour.

"You've just got to make sure you are always changing your password," said Wyrick Tatum, who is a manager for Highway Technologies in Austin. The company rents out digital road signs.

"It's a big challenge," said Tatum. "We try to take every precaution to keep them safe. We can change the password on them but when the sign gets rented out sometimes that password doesn't get changed."

One sign manufacturer, Solar Technology , said they have been prepared for sign tampering for years. They said their signs cannot be hacked.

"Even if they were to get in and cut the lock and get in to the box and so forth- they would not be able to in any way shape or form be able to break into and hack and put up a different message on that sign," said Solar Technology, Inc. spokesperson, Andrew Woodward.

The Texas Department of Transportation tries to make it difficult for anyone to get into their signs by using padlocks.

"It can cause an accident if you change the information that's on it or if you put something that you consider amusing or cute on the sign, it's going to cause people's attention to be diverted away from driving," said TxDOT spokesperson John Hurt.

Safety officials are warning hackers that sign tampering is illegal and carries a fine in most states.