‘INTRUSIVE AND UNSETTLING’: MAN RIGS E-Z PASS TOLL TAG TO SHOW IT TRACKS CARS OUTSIDE OF TOLLS

A New Jersey man modified his E-Z Pass — a device used to automatically pay highway tolls — to alert him every time his it was being connected to by an outside source. He found it wasn’t just when passing through tolls that his device was being read.

The man going by the name Puking Monkey rigged a cow-shaped device to light up and make “moo” sound every time the E-Z Pass’ RFID card was read. The man recorded video of the device being read in non-toll areas and presented his findings at the hacking conference Defcon, which took place in August.

Here’s a look at how the device works, signaling the E-Z Pass was being read in a toll-less area in the Lincoln tunnel, which connects New York City and New Jersey: More