Imagine hundreds of lights in a multi-mile radius being deemed completely inoperable. Traffic lights all around the United States, and some in parts of Europe, are dangerously easy to hack and alter.

Anyone with a radio transistor that is hooked up to any laptop can wreak havoc on the traffic system by changing particular lights at will, or by ultimately shutting down whole grids of traffic lights completely.

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There is a widespread assumption that these devices and technology alike are secure. Therefore we all just put our trust in to them, to the point of possible destruction. A computer science PhD student at University of Michigan states that this is "critical infrastructure" and was "shocked" that this type of behavior was possible and is being exercised.

Under the watchful eye of local transportation officials, University of Michigan researchers field-tested the probability of these hacking capabilities in an undisclosed Michigan city, changing traffic light on a laptop and radio from their truck at will.

The lights and controllers are produced by Econolite, one of the largest makers of signals, cameras and traffic management systems in North America. Over 100,000 traffic lights in North America alone come from and are maintained by Econolite. However, the problem with technology security goes deeper than just "company negligence."

Like most modern-day traffic lights, Econolite's traffic signals run on a broad computer network, allowing them to communicate with surrounding lights. Much like your home Wi-Fi system that uses radio signals to send and receive information. But the controllers to these lights, found inside metal casings at every intersection, act much like your home router - yet without a password or security settings.

Researchers say that by setting encryption passwords to their traffic network, these lights can be made much more difficult to hack and/or interrupt. This still will not make the system totally secure, however, as skilled hackers may still be able to break into the network and send destructive commands to different lighting grids, while being virtually unobstructed.

Founder of Azorian Cyber Security Charles Tendell said this could be a "major issue" for certain cities. Tendell also states that it is time to view these traffic systems as computers and treat them as such, and a system of this nature should not be installed without security lock out parameters.

The money a city saves by updating its traffic lights to a more efficient networked system can be totally wiped away if one hacker decides to shut down the system with just a flick of a switch.

TagsEconolite, hackers, traffic lights, Cyber Security Charles Tendell, technology