The 5 Coolest Hacks of '07

ancientribe writes "Nothing was sacred to hackers in '07 — not cars, not truckers, and not even the stock exchange. Dark Reading reviews five hacks that went after everyday things we take for granted even more than our PC's — our car navigation system, a trucker's freight, WiFi connections, iPhone, and (gulp) the electronic financial trading systems that record our stock purchases and other online transactions."

obvious

[User 956]

Page 5: 'Hacking capitalism'

I've heard of that before. [wikipedia.org]

Hack #6: VBScript vs. Slashdot Effect.

[Anonymous Coward]

> The Five Coolest Hacks of 2007
> Nothing was sacred - not cars, not truckers, not even the stock exchange
>
> Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a0035'
>
> File not found
>
> E:\LIVE\WEB\WWW.DARKREADING.COM\LIB\../../lib/db.inc, line 166

The best hack is.....

[Core-Dump]

The slashdot effect, within seconds the server dies when the story is posted here.

Re:Bluetooth cracking didnt make the list?

[Anonymous Coward]

probably because this is the '07 list, not the '04 list.

Re:Yippie, another slashdigg toplist!

[log1385]

Now all we need is a "Top Ten 'Top Ten Lists' of 2007!"

site slashdotted...

[Orthuberra]

or was it hacked???

Hacking what now..?

[ricebowl]

"Nothing was sacred to hackers in '07 -- not cars, not truckers..."

Somebody hacked a trucker? Holy hell...I hope never to see that one documented Hackaday [hackaday.com].

Re:3. Eighteen-wheelers

[MichaelSmith]

told me to only stop at well lighted truck stops & stay away from roadside rest areas

You would think that for half a million dollars they would pay someone to follow you and take care of the load.

given me a designated route

Ahh maybe they did.

Re:site slashdotted...

[ozmanjusri]

or was it hacked???

It's IIS.

Your bluetooth is being hijacked right now!

[DigitAl56K]

Dude, your keyboard is being sniffed! I just saw everything you typed posted on the internet!!

Prediction for 2008 hacks...

[YU5333021]

No.1 hack for 2008 will be the new electronic passports as discussed in the previous Slashdot discussion.

No.2 will be the the voting machines, but that only gets a second place because it's a dupe from 4 years ago.

No.3 will be the poor truckers again. We should really revert back from robotic drivers.

and No.4 will be slashdot's grammar and spelling checking engine, although this will be done in a fairly low-tech manner. The ten submission monkeys will be poisoned and their typewriters tinkered with...

My next project

[Anonymous Coward]

"... built tools for hacking satellite-based navigation systems that use Radio Data System-Traffic Message Channel (RDS-TMC) to receive traffic broadcasts and emergency messages ... The researchers tested their hardware and software tools with a one- to five-kilometer radius of the targeted vehicles, but they say an attacker could target a specific vehicle by adding a directional antenna, for instance ..."

I think I'm going to invest some effort in this, and build a system that allows me to send messages to the NAV display of other vehicles to say things like:

"Pull the fuck out of the fast lane jackass."

or

"Turn your goddamned high beams off you stupid sack of shit."

Re:Yippie, another slashdigg toplist!

[Jarjarthejedi]

Actually I've seen a few of those already. What we really need is a Top Ten 'Top Ten' "Top Ten lists".

About the eighteen-wheeler one...

[Viceroy Potatohead]

I don't know if the EPCs would be encrypted, but I seriously doubt it. Anyone know? Because if they're not, I'd hardly consider that a hack. They were broadcasting their information unencrypted. Reading it is no more of a hack, in that situation, than turning on your radio. DIY, homebrew, sure. But not a hack. If the EPCs were encrypted, that's different, but it probably wouldn't make any sense to do so. Making your electronic barcodes secret strikes me as kind of silly.

On a side note, I have compiled a list of the most uncool hacks since 2003. Here is my list:

1. Nickelback.

Re:site slashdotted...

[Silver Gryphon]

So... hack-and-slashed?

Re:two more

[Anonymous Coward]

"stop picking your nose"

I agree with all the others, but I don't see how this one affects my driving ability. Sometimes, you just gotta clean it out...