Electronic construction sign hacked to display gross message

Drivers see the giant electronic sign perched on the side of the street up ahead and know the orange square will deliver them an important message, usually traffic related.

But sometimes, drivers get a message they weren’t expecting.

That was the case last week, when the variable message board near Taft Hill Road and Laporte Avenue was hacked to display an extremely crude message. The picture was posted on the discussion forum website Reddit, and the person who took the photo said he had seen the sign get hacked a few different times.

Darren Moritz, city of Fort Collins Streets Department maintenance manager, confirmed the board was hacked last week but said it’s “a very isolated incident.” The city doesn’t track how often the message boards get hacked, but he said this is the first incident so far this year.

“We take this very seriously as these messages are to assist and make the public aware of specific project information,” Moritz said via email.

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On older models, the messages can be changed on the boards themselves. But with newer editions, Moritz said the messages can be changed remotely on computers.

Moritz said he doesn’t know how long the lewd message was up on the board. The messages are checked frequently throughout the day for the duration of the construction project, so he believes it was likely taken down soon after it went up.

The city’s 12 messages boards — which cost between $15,000 and $20,000, depending on the size, Moritz said — are either solar-powered or battery-operated.

The message board that was hacked belongs to the traffic control contractor who is working on the Taft Hill repaving project. Moritz said the contractor is replacing all the locks and changing all the passwords for the company’s boards.

As for the city’s approach to prevent hacking, it frequently changes its passwords and encourages its employees to do the same.