Slashdot Mirror
Investigation Finds Inmates Built Computers, Hid Them In Prison Ceiling (cbs6albany.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from WRGB: The discovery of two working computers hidden in a ceiling at the Marion Correctional Institution prompted an investigation by the state into how inmates got access. In late July, 2015 staff at the prison discovered the computers hidden on a plywood board in the ceiling above a training room closet. The computers were also connected to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's network. Authorities say they were first tipped off to a possible problem in July, when their computer network support team got an alert that a computer "exceeded a daily internet usage threshold." When they checked the login being used, they discovered an employee's credentials were being used on days he wasn't scheduled to work. That's when they tracked down where the connection was coming from and alerted Marion Correctional Institution of a possible problem. Investigators say there was lax supervision at the prison, which gave inmates the ability to build computers from parts, get them through security checks, and hide them in the ceiling. The inmates were also able to run cabling, connecting the computers to the prison's network. Furthermore, "investigators found an inmate used the computers to steal the identify of another inmate, and then submit credit card applications, and commit tax fraud," reports WRGB. "They also found inmates used the computers to create security clearance passes that gave them access to restricted areas."
See? All you need to overcome the most insane obstacles is motivation. Just think of all the things these poor people had to go through to get internet access!
It's kinda humbling.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
...we would all be mocking it's unrealistic plot.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
That's the least of your worries.
Nobody noticed them run cable.
Nobody noticed them tap into the network.
Nobody noticed them sticking things up in ceilings.
Nobody noticed them taking power to run this stuff.
Nobody noticed them using the machine itself.
Nobody noticed them take items from classes they were in.
Nobody noticed them use the system to the extent they could access private information and defraud others.
(Or were prepared to turn a blind eye to ALL the above).
The problem with the prison is NOTHING to do with them being able to get hold a computer. It's being able to get hold of ANYTHING, even things brought deliberately into the prison for them to hold, without people noticing. And then being so unsupervised or unmonitored that they can basically build a damn network with nobody noticing. No surveillance. No tracking of movements. No wondering where they are. No noticing absences for potentially hours at a time.
In that time, they could have done ANYTHING they liked, with a lot worse things than a bit of fraud being possible.
Nobody noticed. Nobody cared. Nobody checked. Nobody counted. Nobody noticed things missing. Or the guards were bribed / threatened to turn a blind eye. That's your problem. Not what they actually got up to.
From TFA:
The inmates were able to get the parts from a program where inmates break down computers in order to learn computer skills and recycle the parts.
Sounds like the program was successful to me...
Of course, once you know what generation someone is from, you're pretty much done and you don't need to know anything else about them. Because people from a particular generation are all the same. Solid thinking there bud.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
And on the other side of the spectrum we have Norway, where they will ask what computer the person wants to use.
Perhaps thinking of them as humans and not as less than animals might have to do something with it.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
WTF is a prison doing with easily accessible drop ceilings, anyway? That's insane.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"