They're exaggerating to say that these hacks are real. They certainly aren't real in the way they portray them in the game, by just pointing at something and knowing instantly what can be hacked on the device and then pressing a single button to actually do the hack.<p>But even without that, most of the "real life" versions of these hacks aren't nearly so useful as in the game.<p>The game even invented fake operating systems and security systems so that they could have what the game needed to be able to hack them. And they were all internet connected, of course. Unlike real security systems. (I'll grant that a lot of home security systems are on the internet, but corporate offices? No.)
The hack for causing accidents by hacking traffic lights wouldn't work because they are physically incabable of giving green lights to the wrong combinations.
Yes ... our lives will get a lot more "interesting" as the script kiddies figure out how to disrupt physical infrastructure. Most of the state actors aren't interested in crashing these systems (at least for now - that could change with the appropriate war). Instead, there's a profit motive in electronic espionage. When this knowledge is acquired by those that just want to break things, we'll find life a bit harder.
A lot of the SoMa stuff in my backyard is in the game:<p><a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/watch-dogs-2-screenshots-vs-san-francisco-real-life-pictures/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnet.com/news/watch-dogs-2-screenshots-vs-san-fr...</a>