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Argonath RPG Community => Speakerbox => World and local news => Topic started by: Huntsman on February 22, 2013, 01:56:18 pm

Title: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Huntsman on February 22, 2013, 01:56:18 pm
Local television station KRTV in Great Falls, Montana finally tested its Emergency Zombie Alert System on Monday night, and succeeded in putting a number of its viewers in a state of panic. The warning appeared during a regularly scheduled pancake infomercial, and applied to all areas that received the station’s signal.

“Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living,” the voice-over stated as a ticker displayed information along the top of the screen. “Follow the messages on-screen that will be updated as information becomes available. Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous. This warning applies to all areas receiving this broadcast.”

Problem is, KRTV doesn’t have an Emergency Zombie Alert System. Even more, the dead wasn’t rising from the grave, but that didn’t stop at least four late-night viewers from calling the local police to see if the dead were actually walking about and attacking the local living.

Of course, there were no walking corpses (unless you count zombie-like sleepwalkers). The station even said in a press release on Tuesday that it had been hacked and that an investigation was currently underway regarding the bogus transmission.

“Someone apparently hacked into the Emergency Alert System and announced on KRTV and the CW that there was an emergency in several Montana counties,” the station said. “This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency. Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets.”

Bummer. Guess we need to holster those valuable twitch skills until the real Apocalypse arrives. Until then, back to your training in zombie games, recruit.

Source - http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Zombies-Apocalypse-KRTV-Hacking-Montana,news-16758.html (http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Zombies-Apocalypse-KRTV-Hacking-Montana,news-16758.html)
Video - KRTV Montana - "Zombie Attack" Emergency Alert System Message (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7pNAhENBV4#)

Now this is the art of trolling :D. Let's remember some older pranks that were pulled by hacking television signal:

1978 Max Headroom Incident - Max Headroom WTTW Pirating Incident - 11/22/87 (Subtitled) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWdgAMYjYSs#)
Captain Midnight HBO pirate - Captain Midnight, HBO, 1986 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbruOe6Yii0#)
Alien message - Alien voice in TV - Vrillon 1977 Live Broadcast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQNQEzsekHw#)
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Hidduh on February 22, 2013, 02:56:35 pm
Oh man, it's about time a forum topic about this was made :D
Just one tip.. if you don't want to get creeped out, don't watch it before going to bed.. :roll:
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Mikal on February 22, 2013, 04:00:33 pm
Must be some shit TV network to be able to get hacked like this..
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Huntsman on February 22, 2013, 04:08:53 pm
Must be some shit TV network to be able to get hacked like this..

Not really. The only thing hacker has to do is aim his bandwith to a correct satelite and then start streaming it with more power than the TV's one. And viola
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Mikal on February 22, 2013, 04:11:39 pm
Not really. The only thing hacker has to do is aim his bandwith to a correct satelite and then start streaming it with more power than the TV's one. And viola
And where does one get more power than a multi-million dollar news company..
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Hidduh on February 22, 2013, 04:15:12 pm
Not really. The only thing hacker has to do is aim his bandwith to a correct satelite and then start streaming it with more power than the TV's one. And viola

Exactly..

For analog stations it is relatively easy to break into the transmission network. All that is needed is to determine the frequency used in the studio-to-transmitter link, then generate a higher-powered signal at the same frequency from a position near the broadcast transmitter site, essentially jamming the original signal. The input stage of a cheap video sender can produce the right kind of signal. A low-power microwave signal generator or a homemade equivalent from easily available components provides the signal (which is pointed at the receiving dish antenna). Most larger stations encrypt their signal, in which case one would just jam the signal, as is the case with digital. Most TV and radio stations are extremely vulnerable, but lack of knowledge has kept this from being a problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion)
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Duel on February 22, 2013, 06:24:52 pm
Had a laugh!  :rofl:
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Mikal on February 22, 2013, 06:26:06 pm
Exactly..

For analog stations it is relatively easy to break into the transmission network. All that is needed is to determine the frequency used in the studio-to-transmitter link, then generate a higher-powered signal at the same frequency from a position near the broadcast transmitter site, essentially jamming the original signal. The input stage of a cheap video sender can produce the right kind of signal. A low-power microwave signal generator or a homemade equivalent from easily available components provides the signal (which is pointed at the receiving dish antenna). Most larger stations encrypt their signal, in which case one would just jam the signal, as is the case with digital. Most TV and radio stations are extremely vulnerable, but lack of knowledge has kept this from being a problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion)
Well then maybe they need to get in with the times and stop being so out-dated. :D
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: TiMoN on February 22, 2013, 06:30:52 pm
LOL.
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Jellyfish on February 22, 2013, 08:14:45 pm
I'm kind of surprised that only 4 people called 911
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Duel on February 23, 2013, 12:45:18 am
I'm kind of surprised that only 4 people called 911
I think the rest found it amusing..  :lol:
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Reece on February 23, 2013, 01:33:27 pm
Brilliant.
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Shaun on February 23, 2013, 01:40:35 pm
Brilliant.
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Salmonella on February 23, 2013, 02:39:55 pm
I'm kind of surprised that only 4 people called 911

Why would you call 911 when you're instructed to tune into 920 AM? :P

Perhaps more interesting would be if we knew how many people actually tuned into 920 AM, and if there was also a broadcast there.
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Denis_Pro on February 24, 2013, 08:35:08 am
Oh man, it's about time a forum topic about this was made :D
Just one tip.. if you don't want to get creeped out, don't watch it before going to bed.. :roll:
Hahahaha  :rofl:
Thanks for the advice Hidduh  :D
Title: Re: TV hackers are back! A troll hacks the CBS to alert people of the Zombie Attack
Post by: Vector on February 24, 2013, 08:40:50 am
Funny, isn't it?
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