Google Maps comes handy in an array of situations but happens to be, it’s also prone to vulnerabilities. Oh, wait!! fret not, these vulnerabilities aren’t software-based as on now. Instead, the vulnerabilities only spew out when an alteration to the real-world is made to trick its navigation capabilities.
Let’s put it in a simple way. A person recently used an amazing hack to create a virtual traffic jam. Simon Weckert, the clever mind behind the same, loaded a cart with as many as 99 smartphones and tuned them all onto Maps navigation.
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Then he takes on the empty-streets which, for Google Maps, weren’t so empty. Maps detected the high cluster of smartphones at one spot which for the tool is a sign of traffic jams.
As he walks down a street, Google recognizes the high concentration of “users” and the slow-moving “traffic” and marks that street as having bad traffic.
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As Weckert opens Google Maps, he notices whatever street he took the phone cart to turned red. For the unaware, Google shows streets in different colours as per the current vehicular strength at the same. For example, a moderate traffic road will be painted green by Google while traffic jam are represented with the colour red.
Hope Google will look into the same and would upgrade its tech to detect the difference between a prank and real-life traffic jams.
