Angry in the Great White North

Looks like I was pretty close to right about the technology and the means of getting into the GO Transit LED system to create the "Stephen Harper Eats Babies" prank:

GO Transit's Edmund Shea explained the "Stephen Harper Eats Babies" LED message to me as follows: "This was electronic vandalism. We assume it was a hacker and we apologize if anyone was offended, including the Prime Minister."

One passenger car was affected between Thursday and Friday; three Monday morning. As for future assaults, Exclusive Advertising (EA), the company responsible for advertising aboard the GTA's GO Train's, has disabled the signs and will be implementing a 'password protected solution.'

According to EA, the hacker obtained a wireless remote which allowed the signs to be modified within a distance of six-feet. [emphasis added]

As I noted, the system was probably designed wireless updates using short-range low-power equipment, which means the a hacker would need a small transmitter of some kind, something that is easily hidden.

Of course, my uncanny ability to guess the how of the crime makes me suspect #1.

Seriously, though, is Exclusive Advertising saying one of their own handhelds to make the changes, or a homegrown solution was used? Is all of their equipment accounted for? Exclusive Advertising has an official response, and they are hoping anyone with knowledge of the people involved will come forward.