Schoolboy genius hacked into tram network

Schoolboy genius hacked into tram network

A Polish schoolboy caused chaos after hacking into a city's public transport system and using a TV-style remote control.

The 14-year-old, described by teachers as a model pupil and an electronics genius, hacked into the transport network in Lodz. He changes the track points and made at least four trams derail - leaving dozens injured.

The boy told local police he had changed the points on tram tracks across the city for a prank. But in one incident alone 12 people were injured.

He studied the trams and the tracks for a long time and then built a device that looked like a TV remote control and used it to manoeuvre the trams and the tracks. He had converted the TV control into a device capable of controlling all the junctions on the line and wrote in the pages of a school exercise book where the best junctions were to move trams around and what signals to change.

He treated it like any other schoolboy might a giant train set - but it was lucky nobody was killed. Four trams were derailed, and others had to make emergency stops that left passengers hurt. He clearly did not think about the consequences of his actions.

The boy faces charges of endangering public safety in a special juvenile court.