This possibility is made even more likely by the inconvenient fact that pager networks are unencrypted. It basically amounts to a gentleman's agreement between service providers that pages sent by one provider's customer do not accidentally appear on the device of another provider's customer.

Gives new meaning to war-driving.

When I read the headline, that's more along the lines of what I was expecting in this story.

I learned long ago to take the default position that any given system is overwhelmingly more likely to be insecure than secure, unless it or one like it has already been hacked and exposed in a well-publicized, highly embarrassing/costly situation. And even then it's more likely to be insecure than reasonably secure.

I keep waiting for remote shutoff systems like the one discussed in the article, OnStar and the ones law enforcement has oft-proposed to be blown wide open.