Angry in the Great White North

More news from Gerry Nicholls on the baby-eating ad:

She [Gerry's wife] called Go [sic] Transit and they told her the Harper message was a result of somebody hacking into the computer system.

The ad was the scrolling "Stephen Harper Eats Babies" message on the LED display in the car. A hack is interesting. I would guess that the advertising system used in the GO trains is wireless -- new messages are uploaded as required, probably using a short-range low-power transmitter located on the platform at the stations. That means someone with a short-range transmitter and a laptop could, with the right knowledge, rewrite the message, but probably only on a car-by-car basis.

If Exclusive Advertising and GO Transit were more forthcoming, they could tell us how many cars were affected, and when. That would tell us if more than one person was involved, or if it was one person affecting one car, or one person moving from car to car and train to train.

But that being said, it does not say much for the security protocols in place. I think Exclusive Advertising has some explaining to do, both to GO Transit and to the advertisers. Exclusive Advertising charges $8,690 to an advertiser to run a 15-second scrolling LED ad on 790 cars for one month. Advertisers should be concerned that they are getting their money's worth, and that their ads aren't subject to corruption.

Of course, the hack story is convenient because it externalizes the blame. Some soothing words about upgraded security, and we move on. I would like to see an explanation of how the hack was done, just so that I can be convinced that it is a plausible explanation. The more plausible explanation was that this was an example of employee mischief. That would be very embarrassing to Exclusive Advertising.

Update: Gerry got this email from GO Transit:

Dear Mr. Nicholls:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your experience while travelling on the Lakeshore West Rail service.

Please be assured that GO Transit is aware of the electronic signage and is in the process of rectifying the situation. GO Transit does not endorse the expressed opinion.

Thank you for your concerns.

Sincerely,

Trudy Taylor-Steele
Customer Service Representative

At least now there is no doubt that it happened as Gerry described it. Still the answer is lacking in detail. As an advertiser, I would be demanding some details to understand the likelihood of my paid ads being subverted or pre-empted.