# Prisoners build computers from canabalized parts; tap into state network. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361 "2017-04-13T04:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/1 "2017-04-13T04:19:53Z")
> **[Prisoners built two PCs from parts, hid them in ceiling, connected to the...](https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/12/prisoners_built_computer_connected_to_states_network/)** > > And they would have got away with it too, but for... Websense > [@](#): > > We are impressed by five prisoners in the US who built two personal computers from parts, hid them behind a plywood board in the ceiling of a closet, and then connected those computers to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s (ODRC) network to engage in cybershenanigans. > … > The computers were cobbled together from spare parts which prisoners had collected from Marion Correction Institution’s RET3, a program that helped to rehabilitate prisoners by getting them to break down old PCs into component parts for recycling. > … > In addition to the above, the forensics team found “self-signed certificates, Pidgin chat accounts, Tor sites, Tor geo exit nodes, ether soft, virtual phone, pornography, videos, VideoLan, and other various software,” in addition to evidence that malicious activity had been occurring within the ODRC inmate network. > > They reported: “Inmates appeared to have been conducting attacks against the ODRC network using proxy machines that were connected to the inmate and department networks. It appears the Departmental Offender Tracking System portal was attacked and inmate passes were created. Findings of bitcoin wallets, stripe accounts, bank accounts, and credit card accounts point toward possible identity fraud, along with other possible cybercrimes.” Without intending to encourage such behavior, I have to say that this was an impressive feat. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/2 "2017-04-13T04:28:22Z")
I am always impressed by the range of prison ingenuity from prison hooch to improvised weapons to fully functional underground economies. If they weren’t such criminally minded fuckups, they could have a perfectly good career in corporate America. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/3 "2017-04-13T04:53:02Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I am always impressed by the range of prison ingenuity from prison hooch to improvised weapons to fully functional underground economies. If they weren’t such criminally minded fuckups, they could have a perfectly good career in corporate America. There are plenty of criminally minded fuckups in corporate America. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/4 "2017-04-13T04:55:25Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > There are plenty of criminally minded fuckups in corporate America. And one of them found his way into the White House MHO. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/5 "2017-04-13T05:00:27Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > There are plenty of criminally minded fuckups in corporate America. Criminally minded? Yes, but the fuckups don’t stay around for long. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/6 "2017-04-13T05:05:38Z")
Thinking about this (and trying to keep the thread on track) I have to wonder if there weren’t guards involved. Were these guys able to sit in a closet tapping on a keyboard for hours without being noticed? They had to have spent hours and hours online to accomplish what they did. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/7 "2017-04-13T09:52:42Z")
They didn’t think to hack into the system and ‘parole’ themselves? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/8 "2017-04-13T15:05:38Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > They didn’t think to hack into the system and ‘parole’ themselves? I suspect they wanted too. 🙂 Given enough time they might have pulled it off. Building a PC is easy. I custom built and sold them for years. A power supply, motherboard and hard drive is the bare minimum. A lot of motherboards have built-in graphics and Ethernet port. A case isn’t absolutely required. I could mount a motherboard in almost anything. A plastic trash can, wooden box, maybe even inside a wall cavity. You just have to keep it from shorting out against any metal. Then mount the power supply nearby and plug the cables into the MB. Where they got the software is an interesting question. They might have used an old hard drive that hadn’t been wiped. Windows would try to reconfigure itself to the new hardware automatically. Plug and Pray would go nuts reconfiguring drivers but it might work. If not, then just try another scrapped hard drive. Peripherals like a keyboard and monitor would have to be acquired and hidden in the prison. I’m more impressed with what they did with the computer. One of those prisoners must have been a former hacker before prison. Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/9 "2017-04-13T15:18:22Z")
I’d suggest an easy future security measure. Make CERTAIN no intact ribbon cables get into the prison recycling area. Reach inside the pc with dykes and cut the cables in several places. No cables means no working homemade PC’s in the prison. My states recycling program requires us (at work) to wipe the hard drive with software that writes to every sector. Or we can just pull it and destroy the drive. Then the PC goes off to the state recycling center for sale. State agencies get first opportunity to buy. Anything they don’t buy gets offered to the general public. Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/10 "2017-04-13T16:34:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Reach inside the pc with **dykes** and cut the cables in several places. (emphasis added). With what?? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/11 "2017-04-13T16:43:36Z")
Diagonal cutters > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/12 "2017-04-13T16:47:15Z")
Software is no problem. A small thumb drive can be easily smuggled in. It can also be used to (slowly) boot an OS in case all the HDDs are nuked. Cutting cables? There’s enough stuff in a prison workshop to repair cables. The thing is what does “recycle” mean in this context? Certainly not for any metals or anything. They don’t even do that in China much anymore. For the parts for resale or something? Most parts in a donated computer aren’t worth anything. But resale limits how much damage can be done before turning it over to the inmates. For refurbishing? To, in turn, donate them to poor families or some such. Possibly still worth it. But, again, you don’t want to damage anything first. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/13 "2017-04-13T16:55:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Diagonal cutters > [https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090330144106AAJnkfs](https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090330144106AAJnkfs) > > Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk Oh! :smack: Didn’t find that in my initial googling (guess my google-fu is crappy today). Made me **very** confused! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/14 "2017-04-13T16:58:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’d suggest an easy future security measure. > > Make CERTAIN no intact ribbon cables get into the prison recycling area. Reach inside the pc with dykes and cut the cables in several places. > > No cables means no working homemade PC’s in the prison. > > My states recycling program requires us (at work) to wipe the hard drive with software that writes to every sector. Or we can just pull it and destroy the drive. Then the PC goes off to the state recycling center for sale. State agencies get first opportunity to buy. Anything they don’t buy gets offered to the general public. > > Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk SATA cables only have 7 connectors so splicing one together would be trivial. Power has more pins, but the larger wires make it even easier. The best solution is hardening the internal network to prevent unauthorized traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/15 "2017-04-13T17:10:41Z")
Heck, just remove all ethernet connections to areas the prisoners have access to. And any power outlets in prisoner-accessible areas should be in highly visible locations. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/16 "2017-04-13T17:14:41Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And one of them found his way into the White House MHO. **Everyone:** Let’s keep the off-topic political comments and jabs out of here. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/17 "2017-04-13T18:34:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Heck, just remove all ethernet connections to areas the prisoners have access to. And any power outlets in prisoner-accessible areas should be in highly visible locations. That means no cables in ceilings (which is apparently where they tapped in). It seems like that would be difficult. I suppose you wouldn’t have to physically connect to anything other than electricity if the prison has WiFi and you can hack into it. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/18 "2017-04-13T19:53:15Z")
With all of aceplace57’s talk of dykes and > [@](#): > > Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk Can we really be sure he’s not posting from Cell Block B? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/19 "2017-04-14T01:42:21Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > With all of aceplace57’s talk of dykes and > > Can we really be sure he’s not posting from Cell Block B? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361/20 "2017-04-16T03:52:36Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Thinking about this (and trying to keep the thread on track) I have to wonder if there weren’t guards involved. Were these guys able to sit in a closet tapping on a keyboard for hours without being noticed? They had to have spent hours and hours online to accomplish what they did. Ever seen this video featuring mass murderer Richard Speck, filmed a few years before he died? It starts at about 2:10. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypSfV8apYug](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypSfV8apYug) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoners-build-computers-from-canabalized-parts-tap-into-state-network/784361.md?page=2)