The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders and Deceivers by Kevin D. Mitnick, William L. Simon Page B
Authors: Kevin D. Mitnick, William L. Simon
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or do whatever we had to do.
Danny was already serving a 20-year sentence at the Wynne Unit, a prison in Huntsville, Texas, when William arrived. His initial prison job had nothing to do with computers.
They first sent me to a unit where you start you doing field work
on the farms. You go hoeing up and down rows. They could use
machines for that, but they don't -- it's a form of punishment so
you feel better about whatever job they give you later.
When Danny was transferred to the Wynne unit, he was grateful to be assigned clerical work in the Transportation Office. "I started to work on an Olivetti typewriter with a monitor and a couple of disk drives. It ran DOS and had a little memory. I messed around trying to learn how to use it." (For me, that rang familiar bells: The first computer I ever used was an Olivetti teletype with a 110-baud acoustic-coupler modem.)
He found an old computer book lying around, an instruction manual for the early database program dBase III. "I figured out how to put the reports on dBase, while everybody else was still typing theirs." He converted the office purchase orders to dBase and even started a program to track the prison's shipments of farm products to other prisons around the state.
Eventually Danny made trustee status, which brought a work assign- ment involving a higher level of trust and what's referred to as a "gate pass," allowing him to work outside the secure perimeter of the prison. He was sent to a job in the dispatch office in a trailer outside the fence, preparing shipping orders for the delivery trucks transporting the food goods. But what really mattered was that it gave him "my first real access to computers." Chapter 3 The Texas Prison Hack 51
After a while, he was given a small room in the trailer and put in charge of hardware -- assembling new machines and fixing broken ones. Here was a golden opportunity: learning how to build computers and fix them from hands-on experience. Some of the people he worked with would bring in computer books for him, which accelerated his learning curve.
Being in charge of hardware gave him access to "a shelf full of com- puter parts with nothing inventoried." He soon grew reasonably skilled at assembling machines or adding components. Prison staff didn't even inspect the systems to determine how he had configured them, so he could easily set up machines with unauthorized equipment.
Federal Prisons Are Different That kind of careless disregard for what a prisoner is up to is unlikely in a federal prison. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has a sensibly high level of para- noia about the subject. During my time inside, I had a "NO COMPUTER" assignment, which meant it was considered a security threat for me to have any computer access. Or even access to a phone, for that matter: A prosecutor once told a federal magistrate that if I was free to use a phone while in custody, I would be able to whistle into it and send instructions to an Air Force intercontinental missile. Absurd, but the judge had no reason not to believe it. I was held in solitary for eight months.
In the federal system at that time, prisoners were allowed computer access only under a strict set of guidelines. No inmate could use any computer that was attached to a modem, or that had a network card or other communication device. Operationally critical computers and sys- tems containing sensitive information were clearly marked "Staff Use Only" so it would be immediately apparent if an inmate was using a com- puter that put security at risk. Computer hardware was strictly controlled by technology knowledgeable staff to prevent unauthorized use.
William Gets the Keys to the Castle When William was transferred from the farm prison to the Wynne unit in Huntsville, he landed an enviable job in the kitchen. "I had the keys to the castle because I could trade food for other things."
The kitchen had one computer, an ancient 286 machine with a cooling fan on the
Danny was already serving a 20-year sentence at the Wynne Unit, a prison in Huntsville, Texas, when William arrived. His initial prison job had nothing to do with computers.
They first sent me to a unit where you start you doing field work
on the farms. You go hoeing up and down rows. They could use
machines for that, but they don't -- it's a form of punishment so
you feel better about whatever job they give you later.
When Danny was transferred to the Wynne unit, he was grateful to be assigned clerical work in the Transportation Office. "I started to work on an Olivetti typewriter with a monitor and a couple of disk drives. It ran DOS and had a little memory. I messed around trying to learn how to use it." (For me, that rang familiar bells: The first computer I ever used was an Olivetti teletype with a 110-baud acoustic-coupler modem.)
He found an old computer book lying around, an instruction manual for the early database program dBase III. "I figured out how to put the reports on dBase, while everybody else was still typing theirs." He converted the office purchase orders to dBase and even started a program to track the prison's shipments of farm products to other prisons around the state.
Eventually Danny made trustee status, which brought a work assign- ment involving a higher level of trust and what's referred to as a "gate pass," allowing him to work outside the secure perimeter of the prison. He was sent to a job in the dispatch office in a trailer outside the fence, preparing shipping orders for the delivery trucks transporting the food goods. But what really mattered was that it gave him "my first real access to computers." Chapter 3 The Texas Prison Hack 51
After a while, he was given a small room in the trailer and put in charge of hardware -- assembling new machines and fixing broken ones. Here was a golden opportunity: learning how to build computers and fix them from hands-on experience. Some of the people he worked with would bring in computer books for him, which accelerated his learning curve.
Being in charge of hardware gave him access to "a shelf full of com- puter parts with nothing inventoried." He soon grew reasonably skilled at assembling machines or adding components. Prison staff didn't even inspect the systems to determine how he had configured them, so he could easily set up machines with unauthorized equipment.
Federal Prisons Are Different That kind of careless disregard for what a prisoner is up to is unlikely in a federal prison. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has a sensibly high level of para- noia about the subject. During my time inside, I had a "NO COMPUTER" assignment, which meant it was considered a security threat for me to have any computer access. Or even access to a phone, for that matter: A prosecutor once told a federal magistrate that if I was free to use a phone while in custody, I would be able to whistle into it and send instructions to an Air Force intercontinental missile. Absurd, but the judge had no reason not to believe it. I was held in solitary for eight months.
In the federal system at that time, prisoners were allowed computer access only under a strict set of guidelines. No inmate could use any computer that was attached to a modem, or that had a network card or other communication device. Operationally critical computers and sys- tems containing sensitive information were clearly marked "Staff Use Only" so it would be immediately apparent if an inmate was using a com- puter that put security at risk. Computer hardware was strictly controlled by technology knowledgeable staff to prevent unauthorized use.
William Gets the Keys to the Castle When William was transferred from the farm prison to the Wynne unit in Huntsville, he landed an enviable job in the kitchen. "I had the keys to the castle because I could trade food for other things."
The kitchen had one computer, an ancient 286 machine with a cooling fan on the
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