Students barred from showing subway hack

updated 5:18 p.m. ET Aug. 10, 2008

LAS VEGAS - A federal judge has ordered three college students to cancel a presentation at a computer hackers' conference showing security flaws in the automated fare system used by Boston's subway.

A U.S. district court judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology students from demonstrating at the Defcon conference on Sunday in Las Vegas how to take advantage of the system's vulnerabilities to get free rides.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says in a complaint filed Friday that the students offered to show others how to use the hacks before giving the transit system a chance to fix the flaws.

MIT is also named in the suit.

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