Loading ...Computers might have made our lives easier but there’s been a price to pay. Computer hacking costs the exchequer millions of dollars per year, apart from frayed nerves, and empty bank accounts of the gullible! Now, another alarming fact has come to light. It seems the US prisons are liable to be targeted by computer hackers; the chilling news is that hacking might well be able to remotely open the doors of cells to help prisoners break out of jails.
The prisons in US use the same computer technology that is utilized in power plants, water-treatment systems, etc. This is known as industrial control systems (ICS). John Strauchs, a former CIA officer who addressed delegates at the recent Miami Hacker Halted convention said that it is theoretically possible to open all prison cell doors through hacking technology. The system is very vulnerable to attack and an all-out prison break is no longer the stuff of a Robert Ludlum novel.
Strauchs, who helps in designing security systems for state and federal prisons, predicted an even worse scenario. With today’s technology, it is possible to sabotage the CCTV systems and shut down prison-wide secure communications. Hackers can also damage the electrical systems that control prison doors. For an expert hacker, it would be child’s play to breach a prison’s firewall security with catastrophic results.
Prisoners further compounded the problem by checking their personal e-mails using the prison’s secure systems. This can prove a magnet for hackers of all types. A report indicated that each facility was connected to Internet-enabled networks. Strauchs felt that it would be a simple matter to bribe a prison guard who could then use a malicious USB drive with malicious programming to open the prison doors.
Sean McGurk, who held a senior position at the Department of Homeland Security, affirmed that he had investigated the claims that ICS was vulnerable, and that it could be used to target prisons. He said that the department had “validated the researchers’ initial assertion that they could remotely reprogram and manipulate” the software controllers used in the system.
