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Prosecutors suspect man hacked lottery computers to score winning ticket

28 points by batguano 12y ago

earless1 12y ago
I think is is pretty interesting that the human element is what caused this guy to get caught. bragging about having a rootkit and buying the ticket himself seems like something he should have known better than to do.
abritishguy 12y ago
It was a piss poor system if all he did was "change the time"
- kabouseng 12y ago
  He didn't attack the system by changing the time. His excuse to be in the room was to change the time. To attack the system he actually installed a root kit.
kabouseng 12y ago
>> The former security director "was 'obsessed' with root kits, a type of computer program that can be installed quickly, set to do just about anything, and then self-destruct without a trace," Probably just about the worst description of what a root kit is...
onion2k 12y ago
Lotteries probably shouldn't be open to corporations.
digitalzombie 12y ago
Lots of ideas of how he could have cheated the system. Video filming slowly. Him talking about root kit. There's a video of a person that may be him buying the winner lotto. They still have to prove it and I'm not entirely sure if this is clear cut with the jury. If this is all they have. If they had proof that the machine was tamper with... then would be much better. Or the Belize corp that claiming the ticket is connected to him some how.
CurtMonash 12y ago
The bit about the rootkits proves little -- would he be qualified for his job if he WEREN'T interested in hacking? The rest, however, seems like enough to convict him in the court of public opinion, including my opinion. Whether he should be convicted under the high standards of proof that prevail in a court of a law depends upon details not captured in the article.
jperras 12y ago
The article does not address what I consider to be one of the most confusing elements of this story: > as an employee of the association that administered the lottery, he was barred by law from buying lotto tickets or claiming lottery prizes As the head of computer security for the state lottery association, he was surely aware that his position precluded him from being able to win the lottery. Why did he buy the ticket, then?
- lttlrck 12y ago
  the remainder of the paragraph you have quoted from explains it.

28 points by batguano 12y ago

I think is is pretty interesting that the human element is what caused this guy to get caught. bragging about having a rootkit and buying the ticket himself seems like something he should have known better than to do.

abritishguy 12y ago

It was a piss poor system if all he did was "change the time"

kabouseng 12y ago
He didn't attack the system by changing the time. His excuse to be in the room was to change the time. To attack the system he actually installed a root kit.

kabouseng 12y ago

>> The former security director "was 'obsessed' with root kits, a type of computer program that can be installed quickly, set to do just about anything, and then self-destruct without a trace," Probably just about the worst description of what a root kit is...

onion2k 12y ago

Lotteries probably shouldn't be open to corporations.

digitalzombie 12y ago

Lots of ideas of how he could have cheated the system. Video filming slowly. Him talking about root kit. There's a video of a person that may be him buying the winner lotto. They still have to prove it and I'm not entirely sure if this is clear cut with the jury. If this is all they have. If they had proof that the machine was tamper with... then would be much better. Or the Belize corp that claiming the ticket is connected to him some how.

CurtMonash 12y ago

The bit about the rootkits proves little -- would he be qualified for his job if he WEREN'T interested in hacking? The rest, however, seems like enough to convict him in the court of public opinion, including my opinion. Whether he should be convicted under the high standards of proof that prevail in a court of a law depends upon details not captured in the article.

jperras 12y ago

The article does not address what I consider to be one of the most confusing elements of this story: > as an employee of the association that administered the lottery, he was barred by law from buying lotto tickets or claiming lottery prizes As the head of computer security for the state lottery association, he was surely aware that his position precluded him from being able to win the lottery. Why did he buy the ticket, then?

lttlrck 12y ago
the remainder of the paragraph you have quoted from explains it.