Washington Union Station Screens Display Inappropriate Content

[Ryan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/05/16/a-union-station-ad-screen-played-pornhub-videos-monday-night/?utm_term=.7d1df99918ba

Union Station officials are investigating a possible hacking after an advertising video screen in the station’s main hall started playing pornographic videos Monday evening.

The incident was caught on camera by a bystander, who said it happened around 5:30 p.m. and lasted about three minutes.

In a video of the incident posted on social media and since removed, the large digital screen located in the Main Hall, outside the entrance to Chipotle, displayed videos that were apparently streamed from the website PornHub. The sexually explicit content was immediately noticeable to passersby. Some people stopped, stared and snickered, while others cautiously approached the screen, trying to figure out how to turn it off.

Unfortunately, I drove to work yesterday, so I missed the, uhhhh....., show....

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Just imagine how many fragile people suffered irreversible mental anguish over witnessing sexualized content where they expected to see wholesome family focused advertising and nonsensical public relations gibberish.

 

[user 1215]

It was a secret ploy by Amtrak to increase ridership.

 

[JoeBas]

Just imagine how many fragile people suffered irreversible mental anguish over witnessing sexualized content where they expected to see wholesome family focused advertising and nonsensical public relations gibberish.

Hey, this is a whole new twist on "See something, say something".

 

[jis]

Just imagine how many fragile people suffered irreversible mental anguish over witnessing sexualized content where they expected to see wholesome family focused advertising and nonsensical public relations gibberish.

Hey, this is a whole new twist on "See something, say something".

Or "do something" as the case may turn out to be for some

 

[west point]

Cynical thought this probably will happen more not less.

 

[cirdan]

Does it need to be a hacker, or can incompetence do this sort of thing too?

Maybe this incident as described can lead to everybody having a laugh, or pretending to be outraged, and then after some days all will be forgotten.

But just imagine if terrorists hack such screens and announce there has been a leak of poisonous chemicals and everybody must jump into their car and drive out of town immediately. Imagine the sort of chaos they could cause, not to mention a follow-up bombing in a critical location.

I would expect there to be a security mechanism preventing unauthorized people from modifying things.

 

[west point]

I would expect there to be a security mechanism preventing unauthorized people from modifying things.

But security is just like a chain, Only good as the weakest link.

 

[Ziv]

A Realtor was showing me how the "wired home" she had listed for sale had a computer system that controlled the heating, cooling, lights, music and television and how each of the main rooms had a small TV screen (and every room had speakers) that would show you videos and/or system diagrams. The Realtor hit the "wrong" button and pulled up a porn video the owner had stored in his personal file on the system. Very graphic, very loud. And the Realtor couldn't figure out how to turn it off for more than a minute, she was completely flustered. Imagine 15 or 16 Realtors touring a home and suddenly the TV's turn on with the with the porn video and every room had speakers that were blaring out the sound of the video.

I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face.

 

[niemi24s]

Stuff like that is so easy to do nowadays. Back in the olden days you had to haul out the projector, set up the screen, find your well-hidden film reel, thread it and . . . .

 

[LookingGlassTie]

Was there a "spanking train" in the video??

 

[PVD]

They are advertising boards controlled by the company that manages the station. It is not hard to envision someone selecting a wrong route for output of something they were watching at their desk.

 

[Thirdrail7]

A Realtor was showing me how the "wired home" she had listed for sale had a computer system that controlled the heating, cooling, lights, music and television and how each of the main rooms had a small TV screen (and every room had speakers) that would show you videos and/or system diagrams. The Realtor hit the "wrong" button and pulled up a porn video the owner had stored in his personal file on the system. Very graphic, very loud. And the Realtor couldn't figure out how to turn it off for more than a minute, she was completely flustered. Imagine 15 or 16 Realtors touring a home and suddenly the TV's turn on with the with the porn video and every room had speakers that were blaring out the sound of the video.

I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face.

Did you buy the house or did she sue and resign?

 

[chakk]

It was a secret ploy by Amtrak to increase ridership.

Or maybe to DECREASE ridership? Ergo, people would miss their trains while watching the screens.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

"Spanking Train" - so now we know who was behind the infamous Dr. Who hack in the 80's (someone in Chicago hacked into the WTTW [main pbs affiliate in Chicago] signal and showed some spanking video for about five minutes)?

I had a supervisor who was fired on the spot for doing a client presentation from his laptop and his computer was got trapped in a porn loop (would have been no surprise to his co-workers, we all knew what he did on his work computer after the rest of us left the office). He is now waiting tables as I understand it - and never been happier apparently.

 

[sitzplatz17]

I'm honestly surprised this didn't happen sooner.

A couple weeks ago while hanging out at Union Station I was able to pull up the desktop of the operating system and navigate my way around without any restrictions. I was even able to pull up YouTube videos through the internet browser.

Not really much "hacking" here, just laughably unsecured devices.

Also, the larger screens in the boarding areas aren't much better, if anyone here knows or understands how the software "TeamViewer" works you should get a laugh out of this:

 

[Ryan]

Oh my, that's amazing.

Wonder how secure they are now?

 

[me_little_me]

I'm honestly surprised this didn't happen sooner.

A couple weeks ago while hanging out at Union Station I was able to pull up the desktop of the operating system and navigate my way around without any restrictions. I was even able to pull up YouTube videos through the internet browser.

Not really much "hacking" here, just laughably unsecured devices.

Also, the larger screens in the boarding areas aren't much better, if anyone here knows or understands how the software "TeamViewer" works you should get a laugh out of this:

ImageUploadedByAmtrak Forum1495257482.812062.jpg

I use it a lot to help friends. After all the years hackers have been around, I am still amazed at the stupidity. I used to do computer/network security before retiring. It used to blow me away how stupid some IT departments of major companies were. Computers and operating systems change but stupidity never does.

 

[niemi24s]

. . . if anyone here knows or understands how the software "TeamViewer" works . . .

I've no Idea about Team Viewer software, but without it and my two computer-savvy sons 2000 miles away I'd be absolutely lost. When I screw up my PC, the fix is just a phone call and Team Viewer away.

Team Viewer and AmSnag are two of my favorite thingamajigs.

 

[sitzplatz17]

Oh my, that's amazing.

Wonder how secure they are now?

That's a good question. Being the good citizen I am* I never actually tried to see if I'd actually be able to remote in with that information. Considering how bad the Infosec has been at Union Station it wouldn't surprise me if that password was still valid!

*and by good citizen I mean my wife told me "don't be stupid".

 

[NorthShore]

So, which Congressman did the free show star?

 

[NorthShore]

Just three minutes? Men!

 

[Carolina Special]

So Amtrak is suing Union Station for allowing Delta Airlines advertising inside the station, saying their lease doesn't allow competitive advertising.

I suppose they view those ads as "inappropriate".