NYC taxis simply running mapping app over unsecured Windows

Filed under: Transportation

It’s always interesting when electronic billboards, kiosks, and other installations go haywire and show you the dark heart of Windows lurking underneath, but it’s even more fun when you can actually start poking around — and it looks like there’s a fair bit of poking to do in all those NYC taxis with backseat screens. According to Billy Chasen, dismissing the error message will allow you to get to the Start menu, from which it’s trivial to run the Windows Connection Wizard, set up the Sprint broadband card, and start surfing away. Billy could also browse the filesystem — which may or may not contain credit card data — and it looks like he even had enough access to install any software he could find online. Hmmm, looks like there’s 1000 experience points waiting here for the first person to send in a photo of Engadget on one of these screens — with a 5000 point bonus if it’s in Firefox.

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(Via Engadget.)