SAN FRANCISCO – Hackers apparently breached San Francisco’s mass transit system over the holiday weekend, forcing the agency to shut down its light-rail ticketing machines thus paving way for commuters to enjoy ‘free rides’.
According to the details, a message reading “You hacked. ALL data encrypted” appeared on ticket machines Saturday morning, along with a contact email address.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation System, known as Muni, quickly shut down the payment system, opening its gates to passengers.
“At this point there are not any indications of any impacts to customers,” Muni spokesman Paul Rose told the reporters on Sunday.
‘We’re doing a full investigation to find out exactly what we are dealing with’ he added.
Muni is among 20 Bay Area transit agencies using Clipper cards for transit payments. The cards are used for about 800,000 fare payments a day, according to the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and many cardholders have their credit-card data on file.
The system was restored by Sunday morning, according to Muni. The agency kept mum about how the situation was resolved.
