“Zombies ahead.”
That was the warning many Maryland motorists saw on an electronic traffic sign in White Marsh this week, according to state transportation officials. Computer hackers allegedly cracked the code of the state’s electronic road sign system in a job similar to incidents sweeping the nation, including signs that read “raptors ahead” and “nobody has ever loved you.”
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“Someone at some point gained unauthorized access to the signs Sunday morning and another yesterday,” Kelly Melhem of the Maryland Transportation Authority said Thursday. “The sign Sunday said, ‘zombies ahead,’ and the sign yesterday said, ‘I love Tony.’ ”
The affected message along Route 43, White Marsh Boulevard, has since been removed, Melhem said. Though connection to other hack jobs is speculation at this point, she called the timing “of interest.”
The unusual messages on electronic road signs also have been reported in Illinois, Texas and Indiana. A sign in Austin, Texas, last week warned motorists that “the end is near.”
Melhem said that the incidents are under investigation and that security is being increased to prevent additional hacking.
— Jaime Malarkey
