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Cyber-criminal Left In Charge of Prison Computer Network

Posted by samzenpus on from the fox-in-the-hen-house dept.

samzenpus writes "A 27-year-old man serving six years for stealing £6.5million using forged credit cards over the internet was recruited to help write code needed for the installation of an internal prison TV station. He was left unguarded with unfettered access to the system and produced results that anyone but prison officials could have guessed. He installed a series of passwords on all the machines, shutting down the entire prison computer system. A prison source said, 'It's unbelievable that a criminal convicted of cyber-crime was allowed uncontrolled access to the hard drive. He set up such an elaborate array of passwords it took a specialist company to get it working.'"

25 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. Don't they... by daninspokane · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...hire these people for the FBI or something? At least that's how the movies go...

    --
    Slashdot is too nerdy for me.
    1. Re:Don't they... by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

      Nah, that's just what they tell the rubes at DEFCON to make them want to get caught. They go up and show a bunch of faked pictures of hackers in FBI t-shirts tanning themselves on the roof of the J. Edgar Hoover building with a couple of scantily-clad "analysts", and tell everyone how these hackers were so good that they ended up being hired by the FBI and are now living happily ever after. Meanwhile, the burned up corpses of these hackers are resting in an abandoned locker room in the middle of a post-apocalyptic hellscape near a satellite uplink station. You know, sort of like in The Running Man.

    2. Re:Don't they... by Spittoon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why would they hire some guy so inept he got caught TWICE?

    3. Re:Don't they... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Actually, I was a little curious.

    4. Re:Don't they... by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 2, Funny

      with a couple of scantily-clad "analysts",

      Think of the straight hackers! Supply some scantily-clad "vaginalists" as well :-)

  2. Oh man... by david@ecsd.com · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where's a "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" tag when you one?

  3. God DAMN it! by david@ecsd.com · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some cyber-criminal stole my 'need'!

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. Press release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Chicken Coop, Inc. is proud to announce the promotion of Mr. Fox to the position of chief of security...

  6. Of course. He was the resident computer guy. by wazzzup · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're a computer guy, right? My cousin's kid been trying to help us with this TV station thing we're doing but I don't think he knows what he's doing. Plus he's starting soccer now and he doesn't have much time anymore. It's not like you don't, eh? Heh heh.

    Anyway, can you help? We use The Windows and all that so it's pretty standard.

    You will? Thanks buddy - I'll see that you get some extra "unmonitored" visits from the little lady this month.

  7. Re:This is surprising by palegray.net · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sexual offenders run the prison rape-prevention program.

    No, that's already run by designated "I'll be your daddy and protect you from the others" representatives, fairly elected by the general population.

    --
    512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
  8. . . . and a chainsaw massacre murderer . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

    . . . is assigned in prison to garden detail . . . and is given . . . a chainsaw!

    The prison now has a few open bunks.

    The prison psychologist stated, "I hoped that we could discover how to do pleasant things with a chainsaw, instead of nasty things."

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  9. Re:Stupid Brits by MrSenile · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or starring Jeffrery Dahmer on an episode of Iron Chef.

  10. Their only recourse is crime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Or politics.

  11. Re:Hmmm. by Korin43 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think executing someone for changing the password on a computer may be a little harsh. I mean, it's not like he installed Windows ME on it.

  12. Re:A faster way to get it working... by coolsnowmen · · Score: 2, Funny

    Their last good backup? heh

    Welcome to MS-DOS
    Copyright 1981,82 Microsoft, Inc.

    c:\

  13. It's "cyber-*" again. by Hurricane78 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ok, I wanted to link to a comment in a previous story here, where someone complained about everything being "cyber-" this and "cyber-" that, and that it makes you sound like it came from the 80s.
    I answered, that he then might not like my new "CyberCyber Virtu@l e-Cloud Turbo CoolClick iNetExplorer 2000 XFX GTX - Ultimate Social Web 2.0 Gold Edition"... or something like that.

    But strangely, the comment vanished from the face of the net. I searched Google, and even manually went trough all recent articles here containing "cyber". Especially "cybercyber". It's gone!
    How can that happen? Anyone care to explain, or find it, even if it's OT? Because this is really strange...

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    1. Re:It's "cyber-*" again. by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I answered, that he then might not like my new "CyberCyber Virtu@l e-Cloud Turbo CoolClick iNetExplorer 2000 XFX GTX - Ultimate Social Web 2.0 Gold Edition"... or something like that. But strangely, the comment vanished from the face of the net. I searched Google, and even manually went trough all recent articles here containing "cyber". Especially "cybercyber". It's gone! How can that happen? Anyone care to explain, or find it, even if it's OT? Because this is really strange...

      Because Taco has plans for a new CyberCyber Virtu@l e-Cloud Turbo CoolClick iNetExplorer 2000 XFX GTX - Ultimate Social Web 2.0 Gold Edition Slashdot and he doesn't want there to be a record of any prior art.

  14. Re:Six years? by gnick · · Score: 5, Funny

    Still, I think it is comparable to cubical life.

    OK, that may be the most ignorant, presumptive thing I've read all day. I've seen prisons and I work in a cubicle. The two situations are nothing alike.

    Prisoners get access to a gym and exercise yard...

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  15. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  16. why thats like putting a tax cheat by night_flyer · · Score: 3, Funny

    in charge of the Federal Reserve

    --


    Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
    Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
  17. Re:Stupid Brits by gnick · · Score: 2, Funny

    No way would that be a bad idea - That would be the PPV episode. I'd tune in just out of curiosity as to what the dessert would be - Sweet-bread sorbet? Liver mousse?

    "The winner will get the privilege of having dinner tomorrow with me. The loser will also get to come, but I need you to arrive 4 hours early after bathing in Worcestershire for 3 hours."

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  18. Re:Makes no sense. by cbhacking · · Score: 2, Funny

    No no no, haven't you ever worked anywhere that you had Admin capabilities? The trick is to make yourself indespensible!

    Oh, wait...

    Seriously though, He probably didn't have access to their entire system. You can cripple a system for its intended use (by adding security restrictions to everything that you have access to) while still lacking acces to, for example, the prisoner info database.

    --
    There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  19. Re:Stupid Brits by adamchou · · Score: 2, Funny

    That was the most confusing asshole statement I ever read. I got lost after the 3rd asshole and all I gather from reading that is there are assholes killing assholes. Sounds like a win win situation to me.

  20. Re:Stupid Brits by PopeGumby · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dark Helmet:
    How many Assholes we got on this ship, any how?
    Everyone:
    Yo!
    Dark Helmet:
    I knew it. I'm surrounded by Assholes. *closes helmet* Keep firing, Assholes!