2 years ago
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is suing three MIT students who say they've found security flaws in the Boston subway's automated fare system.
The three planned to make their findings public at at the Defcon conference in Las Vegas, but the MBTA was granted a court injunction barring them from revealing what they found about the CharlieCard and CharlieTicket system.
The presentation, titled "Anatomy Of A Subway Hack," was to demonstrate how to take advantage of the T's vulnerabilities to get free rides.
The MBTA alleges in court documents that the three claimed to have circumvented the security protocols of the ticketing system, according to the Boston Sunday Globe. The suit claims the three offered free subway rides for life to people over the Internet. The suit also named MIT as a defendant.
The students made their discoveries doing research for an MIT course. They claim that they never planned to reveal to the public all the information needed to hack the system.
The students also claim that the information that the MBTA has already put in the public domain could give anyone the tools to hack the farecard system.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
