Monday, June 28, 2010

California wants you to have your own James Bond numberplate

I don't know if you caught this story last week - it did the rounds on some of the tech blogs. California is looking at an idea to issue electronic numberplates that can be changed to show adverts when your car isn't moving. (As if we weren't inundated with adverts on every flat surface already). I'm not sure they've thought this through very well though, because within milliseconds of this technology becoming available, someone will rootkit it and then you'll be able to change your numberplate at will through the resulting hack. Think of the benefits of being able to James-Bond your numberplate! No more speeding tickets from speed cameras. No more fines issued by numberplate recognition cameras. Being able to message the guy behind you that he's a twat. The possibilities are endless.
I'm sure the authorities think they'll be able to come up with a perfectly hack-proof method of creating these electronic numberplates, but then I'm equally sure that nobody involved in this decision process will have been to the DefCon or BlackHat hacker conferences.

Original story from CNN