Hacked electronic sign declares

Someone clearly isn’t very impressed with Vladimir Putin, as the Russian economy continues to tank in the wake of sanctions.

As the ruble plummets below 100/$ today, Russian officials are saying there’s nothing to worry about.

But not everyone is convinced: in Surgut, a Siberian oil town, someone hacked this news ticker to say “Putin is a dickhead and a thief. 100₽/$ – you’ve lost your fucking mind” pic.twitter.com/pLQ29FkIUP

— max seddon (@maxseddon) August 14, 2023

Over the years we’ve seen plenty of electronic road signs and billboards hacked to display “amusing” messages.

I assume that officials are now investigating with some haste whether whoever updated the ticker in the oil town of Surgut – declare that “Vladimir Putin is a dickhead and a thief” – was a rogue member of staff, or a hacker exploiting a poorly-secured or default password.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy.
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