Crosswalks manipulated to broadcast false recordings of Musk, Zuck, and Jeff Bezos
The traditional advice remains “Stop, look, and listen” when crossing streets, but pedestrians in certain areas are discovering that they are in disbelief as hackers have tampered with crosswalks to play fabricated audio imitating tech moguls Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos.
In multiple US cities, pedestrians have been surprised to hear the manipulated voices of Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos emitting from compromised crosswalks.
The individual behind the manipulated pedestrian crossing systems has chosen not to reveal their identity, which may be a wise decision.
Previous year, a security researcher created a video outlining the simple process of reconfiguring the audio of crosswalk systems produced by a company named Polara. This was made possible when the installers neglected to change the default password or opted for an easily guessable password.
Whatever the method used for the manipulation, social media has been inundated with videos capturing the content of the compromised crosswalks.
For example, in Palo Alto:
“Greetings, I am Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the base of Tesla’s engineering. They say money can’t purchase happiness. Well, I have tried countless times, and while that may hold true, it can certainly fetch you a Cybertruck, which is pretty fantastic, don’t you think?”
Meanwhile, near Meta’s headquarters in Melo Park, pedestrians were able to hear a fabricated voice resembling the Facebook founder through this link:
“We excel at undermining democracy, frying the elderly brains with AI garbage, and jeopardizing the safety of transgender individuals – and I believe that’s quite remarkable.”
In another instance, the fabricated voice of Mark Zuckerberg, in this video, casually “assured” pedestrians regarding AI’s invasion into their lives:
“Hey, it’s Mark Zuckerberg, but my pals call me the Zuck. It’s normal to feel uneasy or violated as we forcefully integrate AI into every aspect of your awareness. And let me assure you – don’t fret, as you are utterly powerless to prevent it. Anyhow, farewell.”
On the other hand, Seattle inhabitants were bewildered to hear a voice resembling the founder of the city’s wealthiest company, publishing a plea against taxing his wealth, through this source:
“Greetings, I am Jeff Bezos. This crosswalk is brought to you by Amazon Prime with a critical – announcement. Yes, you are not mistaken. Please refrain from levying taxes on the affluent, otherwise all other billionaires will relocate to Florida as well.”
Several audio recordings also mentioned Luigi Mangione, who has been accused in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
It is evident that whoever manipulated multiple crosswalk systems across America harbors no admiration for the ultra-wealthy. Despite the potential validity of their critiques towards billionaire tech leaders, hacking pedestrian crossings will likely have minimal impact beyond generating media attention.
An effective means of staging a personal protest against companies that you believe are causing harm is by discontinuing your transactions with them and encouraging others to do the same. If you are against companies amassing billions, refrain from contributing to their revenue stream.
The manipulation of crosswalks not only incurs costs for financially strained cities in their cleanup efforts but also poses a public safety threat that could endanger the well-being of pedestrians – especially those with visual impairments.
Crosswalks are not the sole “hardware” on roads that have become targets for mischievous hackers. Instances include a longstanding series of hacked road signs and digital billboards displaying unauthorized messages, often due to the exploitation of default passwords.
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