Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Allegation: Lottery Official Hacked RNG To Score Winning Ticket

Posted by timothy on from the his-number-was-up dept.

SternisheFan writes with this excerpt from Ars Technica about what may be the most movie-worthy real-life crime story of the year so far: Eddie Raymond Tipton, 51, may have inserted a thumbdrive into a highly locked-down computer that's supposed to generate the random numbers used to determine lottery winners, The Des Moines Register reported, citing court documents filed by prosecutors. At the time, Tipton was the information security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, and he was later videotaped purchasing a Hot Lotto ticket that went on to fetch the winning $14.3 million payout.

In court documents filed last week, prosecutors said there is evidence to support the theory Tipton used his privileged position inside the lottery association to enter a locked room that housed the random number generating computers and
infect them with software that allowed him to control the winning numbers. The room was enclosed in glass, could only be entered by two people at a time, and was monitored by a video camera. To prevent outside attacks, the computers aren't connected to the Internet. Prosecutors said Tipton entered the so-called draw room on November 20, 2010, ostensibly to change the time on the computers. The cameras on that date recorded only one second per minute rather than running continuously like normal.

"Four of the five individuals who have access to control the camera's settings will testify they did not change the cameras' recording instructions," prosecutors wrote. "The fifth person is defendant. It is a reasonable deduction to infer that defendant tampered with the camera equipment to have an opportunity to insert a thumbdrive into the RNG tower without detection."

9 of 342 comments (clear)

  1. Honestly ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm actually surprised there haven't been more cases of insiders rigging lotteries.

    I should think knowing all of those zillions of dollars are just sitting there would cause more people to decide to see if they could get away with it.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Honestly ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You don't see it more often because only idiots actually try to skim the lottery via the actual lottery.

      The ones who get away with it are the guys taking it out of the account via the budget (usually for a tax break for their large donors), or taking bribes from shop owners who want to sell tickets.

    2. Re:Honestly ... by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Funny

      You need a trusted co-conspirator.

      Those words are mutually exclusive. :)

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    3. Re:Honestly ... by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There was a game somewhere that was proven to have software so faulty that it wasn't even capable of 'drawing' one of the possible numbers that players could choose.

      Computer-based random number generators are just about the worst possible way to conduct a lottery. They're not random, they're subject to tampering, they're only understood by a few people, and their function while operating cannot be observed by the public. They also aren't exciting.

      Machines that dump a bunch of balls into a spinning drum and then start pulling those balls out look cool on TV, plus they can be inspected, the public understands how they work, their operation is transparent, and because of the nature of the beast, are about as random as one can get within the context of a machine doing the drawing.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:Honestly ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Pennsylvania_Lottery_scandal

      Nope, balls don't work either.

    5. Re:Honestly ... by IronChef · · Score: 5, Informative

      I worked for years in a slot machine company, and the scenario you propose would be difficult to execute. That sort of thing was easier in the old days when machines used socketed ROMs ... but today it's increasingly server managed and cryptographically signed and there is simply no way for the owner of a machine to flip a switch and rig the game.

      A game will have several payout selections, like 95.6%, 98%, etc. and you can choose among them, but that is about it.

      Slot manufacturers are under the microscope and will not jeopardize their licenses by making it easy for owners to rig games--at least in the US. The industry is HIGHLY regulated and multiple third party labs are involved in certifying the products.

  2. This happened back in the day... by GerbilSoft · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...but instead of hacking a random number generator, they injected paint into the ping-pong balls used for the live drawing.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1...

    1. Re:This happened back in the day... by GerbilSoft · · Score: 5, Interesting

      And now for a follow-up question: Why exactly was a "highly locked-down computer" set to automatically execute code from flash drives?

  3. Erm.. Why a computer? by thegarbz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What is the point of using an expensive and highly locked down computer in place of a dead simple machine filled with pingpong balls?