Authorities report that the crossings in Palo Alto, Redwood City, and Menlo Park had their audio switched off following the bizarre incident over the weekend, with engineers examining the hacking method.
### Hacked Pedestrian Signals Broadcast Mock Messages from Tech Giants
### Hacked Pedestrian Signals Broadcast Mock Messages from Tech Giants
In northern California, pedestrian crossings were hacked to play fake audio messages impersonating billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, prompting investigations by local authorities.
Pedestrian signals across several northern Californian cities recently fell victim to a prank that played audio greetings imitating tech moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. The incident, which drew significant attention over the weekend, impacted signals in Palo Alto and Redwood City—both hubs of technological innovation and home to offices of Musk's Tesla and Zuckerberg's Meta.
Transcripts from some of the disruptive broadcasts offered curious pedestrians humorous twists from the billionaires. An impersonation of Musk humorously invited bystanders to be his friend in exchange for a Tesla Cybertruck while another message from a false Zuckerberg introduced himself with a quirky line stating, “real ones call me The Zuck.”
According to officials from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), around ten pedestrian crossings were affected, and the audible features have since been disabled until a solution is implemented. The tampering, first revealed by a city employee on Saturday, indicated that the pranks likely occurred the day before.
"We are treating this as a serious incident," said Pedro Quintana, a spokesman for Caltrans, confirming that engineers are actively probing the situation. The playful messages, including one from 'Musk' which misquoted, “You know, they say money can't buy happiness... I guess that's true. God knows I've tried,” rapidly circulated on social media platforms.
While the city of Palo Alto confirmed at least a dozen crossings had been interfered with, the incident remains shrouded in mystery with neither billionaire commenting on the peculiar events. Local media indicate a sense of relief as it appears no other traffic signals outside of the affected areas were impacted by the disruption.
Transcripts from some of the disruptive broadcasts offered curious pedestrians humorous twists from the billionaires. An impersonation of Musk humorously invited bystanders to be his friend in exchange for a Tesla Cybertruck while another message from a false Zuckerberg introduced himself with a quirky line stating, “real ones call me The Zuck.”
According to officials from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), around ten pedestrian crossings were affected, and the audible features have since been disabled until a solution is implemented. The tampering, first revealed by a city employee on Saturday, indicated that the pranks likely occurred the day before.
"We are treating this as a serious incident," said Pedro Quintana, a spokesman for Caltrans, confirming that engineers are actively probing the situation. The playful messages, including one from 'Musk' which misquoted, “You know, they say money can't buy happiness... I guess that's true. God knows I've tried,” rapidly circulated on social media platforms.
While the city of Palo Alto confirmed at least a dozen crossings had been interfered with, the incident remains shrouded in mystery with neither billionaire commenting on the peculiar events. Local media indicate a sense of relief as it appears no other traffic signals outside of the affected areas were impacted by the disruption.
