loading . . . Crosswalk signals were hacked because of a weak password Somebody hacked the audio output of crosswalks in Palo Alto in April.
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BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
We now know why hackers were able to take over the talking crosswalks on El Camino and have them air AI messages impersonating Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Turns out Caltrans didn’t change the passwords for the crosswalks that the manufacturers set, making them vulnerable to hackers.
Crosswalk signals were hacked in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City in April.
When the prank was discovered, Caltrans disabled the audio feature of the crosswalk device, but has since restored it.
But the problem was that the password for the crosswalk signals was never changed, allowing hackers to replace the audio files with the voices of the fake Zuckerberg and Musk, according to emails the Post obtained through the California Public Records Act.
The manufacturer reached out to Caltrans and Menlo Park to advise them to use a strong password for the crosswalk signals. Only Caltrans-owned signals were affected, according to Menlo Park Public Works Director Azalea Mitch.
Caltrans spokeswoman Jeneane Crawford said they found other intersections that required a password change. They changed those passwords to prevent future incidents.
**Older signals were OK**
Older crosswalk signals were not hacked like at the intersection of El Camino Real at Ravenswood, accoridng to Mitch.
Older systems have a central box that controls signals on surrounding blocks, and hackers would need to physically open the box and upload their audio files, San Jose State University engineering professor Ahmed Banafa previously told the Post in an interview.
Newer systems use Bluetooth, and there are ways to connect to the frequency wirelessly by being in close proximity to the signal with a phone, Banafa said.
**Creative messages**
Some pedestrians on University Avenue in Palo Alto heard a fake Musk talking about President Trump.
“You know, it’s funny, I used to think he was just this dumb sack of s*&. But when you get to know him, he’s actually a really sweet and tender and loving,” a fake Musk said.
“Sweetie, come back to bed,” a Trump impersonator said in the background.
Musk has roots in Palo Alto. He lived in the penthouse at 385 Forest Ave. in downtown Palo Alto during his PayPal days. That’s right above the Daily Post offices. Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto for several years.
Zuckerberg is CEO of Meta, headquartered in Menlo Park, and one of his homes is in the Crescent Park neighborhood. Facebook, the original Meta company, was once located in downtown Palo Alto, then moved to the California Avenue district. But the company then moved to Menlo Park.
“Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck,” a hacked signal said. “You know, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience. And I just want to assure you that you don’t need to worry because there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. See ya.” https://padailypost.com/2025/12/29/crosswalk-signals-were-hacked-because-of-a-weak-password/
