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Investigation Into Security Director Who Hacked the Lottery Expands (bgr.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the is-there-anything-else-you'd-like-to-tell-us? dept.

An anonymous reader sends the latest update on Eddie Tipton, the man who worked for the Multi-State Lottery Association who was convicted of rigging a lottery game so he could win a $14 million jackpot. BGR reports: "Not too long ago, Eddie Tipton was convicted of hacking into the Multi-State Lottery Association's computer system in order to rig a nearly $17 million jackpot in Iowa. Now comes word that an investigation into Tipton's hacking activities is expanding to include a number of other states. Thus far, lottery officials from Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma have indicated that Tipton may have also gamed lottery jackpots in their respective states. What makes this saga all the more interesting is that Tipton actually used to work at the Multi-State Lottery Association as a security director. In that capacity, Tipton allegedly installed a rootkit onto his company's computer system that influenced the manner in which 'random' numbers were generated. As a result, Tipton was able to calculate and gain access to winning lotto numbers before their public unveiling. With the numbers in tow, authorities claim that Tipton would reveal the winning numbers to friends who would then buy 'winning' lotto tickets and then collect on big paydays."

3 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Can we just drop the lottery already? by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Every state that has one uses it to cut taxes on the rich instead of adding to Education budgets (seriously, there's a John Oliver video over on youtube that explains it). It's addictive gambling that often drains the last few dollars from the poor and worse it gives the lower class a false feeling of hope that discourages them from demanding better living conditions. It encourages the downtrodden to think of luck as a skill you work at and view their failure to win as a personal failure. Lotteries are one of the most vile tools for controlling the working class ever devised. How is it nobody but one guy on youtube ever points this out?

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  2. Obligatory by s.petry · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Lottery is a hidden Tax on the Poor.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  3. Re:Serious question.. by sunderland56 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the exact same reason why we all still vote with pieces of paper

    I'm afraid I have some bad news for you.