The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure said crosswalks on E. Colfax Avenue at Washington and Pearl streets were impacted.
DENVER — Some crosswalks on East Colfax Avenue had an extra message for Denver pedestrians this past weekend.
When the “Walk” sign was activated, it also prompted derogatory comments against President Donald Trump, including an expletive. However, audio did still indicate when it was safe to cross.
Videos of the crosswalk audio went viral on social media over the weekend before the city could address the hack.
Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) spokesperson Nancy Kuhn wrote in an email to 9NEWS, the only impacted crosswalks the department is aware of were on E. Colfax Avenue at Washington and Pearl streets.
“These crosswalk push-buttons were newly installed – still bagged and with their factory settings that included a default password that we now have learned is easy to find online,” Kuhn wrote. “These push-buttons weren’t meant to operational yet, but just recently got power.”
A similar situation occurred last year in Seattle when someone hacked crosswalk audios with fake messages from Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. The hackers reached crosswalks in some California cities as well.
Polara is a traffic signal company that distributes crosswalk signals around the country. According to its website, Advanced Traffic Products distributes Polara products in Colorado.
According to Polara, default passwords can be changed using an app accessible on Apple and Android devices.
9NEWS reached out to Polara for comment and is waiting to hear back.
DOTI said passwords at the affected locations have been changed from the default passwords, and the department doesn’t expect a hack to happen again.
