Need prompt action against board hackers

Representation pic

A day after this paper highlighted the use of foul language on a digital traffic advisory board in Goregaon East, the Dindoshi police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown hackers who messed with the electronic system. There was an abusive message that had been put out on the board in Marathi. This came a month after the Powai plaza was targetted similarly. A ‘smoke weed' message appeared at the Haji Ali signal, a few days ago.

A complaint was filed in the case and there were plenty of posts on social media over the three incidents. But one cannot help but trace a definite pattern. It is important not to brush this off as some harmless fun or not everybody's brand of humour. Somebody has got the password and hacked into the system.

If digital boards are going to be compromised by hackers, this is a danger to the city. Firstly, it causes distractions on the roads and can lead to accidents.

Also read: Mumbai: Is someone messing with the city?

Secondly, there are children commuting at any given time. They are exposed to foul language and misleading messages. While parents and minders can do so much, children may subconsciously imbibe that such lingo is alright or even ‘cool' as it is an attention getter both offline and in the world they increasingly inhabit which is virtual. In an age when attention spans get progressively shorter, this ‘instant attention' is a big lure for the young.

It can also be a huge safety threat. If such a message can be beamed so can fraud messages about bombs, terrors, misguiding people about fires or simply any kind of threat is possible.

We need to secure these digital spaces and we hope the cops catch those responsible for the present chaos. This may be just the beginning for something that can spiral worryingly out of control.