Hack of bike-sharing fleet required 1,660 manual reboots – CNET
Hack of bike-sharing fleet required 1,660 manual reboots
Some hacks are nightmares, some are just a pain, as bike-sharing service Bycyklen discovered this weekend.
Bycyklen posted this sad Android screen from a downed bicycle on its Facebook page.
BycyklenOver the weekend, Copenhagen-based Bycyklen, a bike-sharing service, experienced a hack that sent employees scurrying to individually reboot the tablet interfaces for all but 200 of the bikes in its fleet of almost 2,000, and tourists scurrying for alternatives.
On its Facebook page, the company said that no data was stolen — someone simply deleted it all — overnight Friday local time. Then, after restoring from backups, it posted a statement that said (according to Google Translate), “Unfortunately, we will have to update all the bikes manually. We are heading on the street with every man available on this beautiful sunshine Sunday, but it will take time.”
It’s back up and running now, but that sounds like it was a big weekend bummer for the staff.
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