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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."
H1B Visa cheap labor? Pft. Just look at home and hire some inmates
They sound like better job candidates that the millennial types that come through our doors. US millennials especially, they seem to think they deserve a cookie for knowing very basic things.
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.
Don't forget the free sex.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
They found a pirate copy of doom on the computers, which is the thing that turned em into criminals.
They seem to be able to get things working, which is better than most...
...we would all be mocking it's unrealistic plot.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
If only they had born in .ua or .ru or even in .ng they would have had flourishing careers as top dons or at least as top henchmen to top dons. Sad they ended up in USA. Their local don, the for-profit-prison industrial complex cronies do not see the value in the phenomenal access they have to local talent.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
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.
Incipiamus, fratres, servire Domino Deo, quia hucusque vix vel parum in nullo profecimus.
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.
as if you could join copper pipes, rocks and whatnot together and magically transform it into a computer?
I'm now speculating how an episode of MacGyver set in a prison would have worked out. And the original MacGyver, not the new one who looks like he'd last nanoseconds in prison.
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...
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.
he just looked through the ODRC system for a young inmate with a long sentence, then used his information to get the cards.
If the bank is giving a credit card to a prison inmate with a long sentence, I feel like there's a moral imperative for someone to take advantage of them, for their own good.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Yes, I use actual examples to form my opinion of the world.
In my experience, fire is always hot, water is always wet, criminals are always criminals.
--XYZZY--
So you're incapable of nuanced thought. Well done you.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
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.'"
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.
To be fair, it seems that this program was a complete success.
Yes, I use actual examples to form my opinion of the world.
In my experience, fire is always hot, water is always wet, criminals are always criminals.
--XYZZY--
So you're incapable of nuanced thought. Well done you.
Lots of people are incapable of nuanced thought. See:
"basket of deplorables"
"Trump voters" becomes "racist voters"
"Unable to support Anita Sarkeesian/Brianna Wu/etc" becomes "Misogynist"
Oh, wait, you thought you were capable of nuanced thought? That's actually quite hilarious.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Once you're in prison, I would imagine the bar to increase sentencing is rather high. To increase your sentence, you'd have to go through trial, which means the prison has to file with the DA about crimes you committed in prison. There's a limited amount of discretion on early release, on which the prison wardens can provide input; anything beyond this requires judicial oversight.
Think about it. If you commit a rape or murder in prison, this needs to go to judiciary review. You need due process to examine the evidence. You're in an environment where other inmates can easily create a false image of the situation, and even the administrative staff is under enough obvious stress that trust is limited and personal grudges and abuse are expected. On the other end, every minor infraction doesn't need to become a Federal case; if you steal a fork from the commissary, that warrants disciplinary action, but not necessarily a new extension on your sentence.
This is hijinks. It's extreme hijinks, but it's still just hijinks. The inmate targeted for identity theft has a case against these people; as for their illegal use of the prison network and the entire chain of events involved, that's more of an administrative manner. This is an environment where people steal stuff, break stuff, and get places they don't belong; even beyond that expectation, this was junk hardware with little to no value to anyone, and thus the damages done by its theft are below standing. Such a scale of high-mischief warrants an extremely-long and uncomfortable talking to, and some unfriendly disciplinary measures; it's more amusing than criminal, though, and doesn't warrant an extreme response.
tl;dr: Nobody got stabbed or raped, and there wasn't a riot or break-out; somebody will get yelled at a whole hell of a lot and have their free-time privileges suspended, and that's just fine.
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Like HELL!
Why can you plug into the network at all? (RADIUS, etc.)
Why can you plug in unauthorised devices? (NPS, device management etc.)
Why can you use devices without up-to-date antivirus/firewall etc. (NPS again)
Why do new things plugged in get access to everything and not just a limited VLAN?
Why are you able to then get access to something just by a stolen username/password from an authorised device? (Access controls, I mean come on! At least insist that it's a domain-joined device!)
Why did they not notice until ACCESS WAS ALREADY BEING USED ON THE NETWORK?
It's pathetic.
I work in a primary school (up to age 11) and you wouldn't be able to do that to our systems without alarm bells going off.
In a "secure" environment like a prison, and especially on secure services that can create access cards and open door, the IT department were doing NOTHING LIKE their job.
Literally, a managed switch and a device management software / Windows server set up properly would have stopped 99% of what they did in its tracks and all they'd have was a stolen username/password they could use only at an authorised machine anyway.
You basically handed the prisoners the network on a plate, for virus infection, malware installation, Internet access, system compromise, packet-sniffing, etc.
And you're saying well done because they noticed a whole bunch of suspicious entries in a log after a LONG time of the computer being in a position to do all kinds of damage?