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The BBC reports that several Target stores in the US have had their public address systems hacked, resulting in explicit pornographic audio being broadcast across the stores, in some cases for more than 15 minutes at a time.
An email obtained by the BBC, sent by company bosses to Target store managers across the US on Friday afternoon, outlines a weakness in the store's PA system being used to carry out the prank.I've removed a key detail for obvious reasons.
"Non-Target team members are attempting to access the intercom system by calling stores and requesting to be connected to line [xxxx]," it reads. "If connected, callers have control of the intercom until they hang up. We are actively working to limit intercom access to the Guest Services phone only. In the meantime, inform all operators to not connect any calls to line [xxxx]."
So in other words, if you ring up Target and ask to be put through to a certain extension, you're suddenly live on the PA system for as long as you like. Hardly the hack of the century, granted, but a reminder that there are people out there that will find even the most obscure vulnerabilities and exploit them.
I don't condone breaching computer systems but I guess that's one way to draw attention to vulnerabilities. Too bad they didn't pick something more kid-friendly. Like broadcasting that for the next 60 minutes there would be an 80% discount on everything in the store.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 19 2015, @04:45PM
"Utility clerk to aisle 1 for cleanup" five minutes "utility clerk to aisle 2 for cleanup" five minutes "utility clerk to aisle 3 for cleanup". I think you see where this is going.
After the store closed (well... mostly) at the food store during my high school days we'd make "comical" pages while waiting for coworkers to finish up "Price check meat department three pounds dog meat for cashier 7" and stuff like that. "Price check dairy department one quart human breast milk cashier 4", etc. While the store was open, if there was an unusually cute cashier working that night you'd hear PA announcements for "Price check 48 pack condoms for cashier 5" or whatever, and we'd make bets on how dark red she would turn, even funnier if everyone, including the "happy" couple, knew the guy doing price checks that night had a crush on her or was actually dating her. Of course the girls got us back by requesting price checks for tampons. Oh another good one is if someone got busted selling underage alcohol, in the old days before they practically made that a death penalty infraction, you know there would be a dozen price checks for beer or wine coolers or whatever for that cashier the next night just to give them some BS. Someone showing up to work with a hangover resulted in a morning of phantom price checks for aspirin or 24 packs of Milwaukees Best or whatever.
We also hazed new shelf stockers by sending phantom price checks for them to find weird foods like canned squid in ink and ethnic produce items that most people don't even recognize as plants.... and of course we'd send them on wild goose chases. "Price check health and beauty eight blade shaving cartridge quantity 3 cashier 3". Then if the customer and cashier were in on the joke we'd have them team up to yell at the poor guy.
A group of miscreants of my acquaintance went to no small effort to F with sports fan's minds at walmart by making fake pages "Attention packers fans, the Bears just scored a touchdown" and then try not to pee themselves laughing at people swearing and insisting that's not what they heard on their walkman radio or whatever, follow up pages to "correct" us, etc. See the funny part wasn't rubbing it in, but just totally making stuff up. "Current score is Packers 3, Lions 27"