Birdsong has learned that a federal Judge in Nevada has ordered three college students to cancel a presentation at a computer hackers’ conference showing security flaws in the automated fare system used by Boston’s subway. A U.S. Court judge issued a temporary restraining order, that was subsequently made permanent, preventing the MIT students from demonstrating at the Defcon conference on Sunday, August 10, 2008, how to take advantage of the system’s vulnerabilities to get free rides.
Yes, a little learning can be a dangerous thing. A lot of learning like this could land one jail.
It’s interesting, the board of MBTA is long on legal experience and short on IT/tech experience (https://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/leadership/?id=1046).
Perhaps, if it were the other way around MBTA would have sent the students an offer of air travel, accommodation and financial support to help MBTA strengthen their flawed security… before real criminals take advantage of MBTA’s negligence!