Hacker Hits Electronic Roads Signs on Route 25

A common refrain in the election rhetoric in St. Charles these days has been, “Nothing good happens after midnight.”

Still, sometimes being a night owl can prove entertaining.

Evidence of that arose during the overnight hours Wednesday to Thursday, as seen in images captured by a driver who was heading home southbound on Route 25 when he saw message boards that had something other than the traffic-related messages drivers would expect to see.

“The electronic billboard on rt 25 has been hacked!” Shawn Viland messaged to St. Charles Patch editor Ted Schnell shortly before 3 a.m. Viland was heading south, not far past May Lane when he noticed the unusual messages and stopped to take some photos using his iPhone.

Instead of “ROAD CLOSED,” “ROADWORK AHEAD,” or some similar cautions to drivers, Shawn Viland encountered:

“THE PANT SNAKES”

“RISE AGAIN” in the southbound message board.

“I wasn't sure what I was seeing!” he wrote, adding that he stopped to see.

Looking back, he saw on a northbound board: “BITCH!”

The message boards are up, signaling construction in the area that has closed a portion of Pearson Road off Route 25.

An Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman said Friday that the signs are associated with a Magellan Pipeline project.

Hacking into any kind of electronic device that could compromise public safety is against the law, wrote IDOT Chief Communications Officer Jae Miller, who insisted that, despite the publicity around them, the sign hacks are "extremely rare."

"IDOT will continue to utilize the security methods currently in place to prevent them from happening," Miller said.

Related:

• March 28, 2013:

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