Hundreds of inmates in Idaho hacked tablets in an effort to transfer thousands of dollars into their prison accounts.
The tablets — manufactured by JPay — are intended for accessing games, music, ebooks, and emails. But because of a flaw, inmates were able to hack the tablets to transfer over $200,000 into thier accounts.
As reported by the Spokesman-Review, over 360 inmates from five Idaho correctional facilities were able to exploit a “vulnerability” that officials didn’t discover until early July.
Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray issued a statement explaining how 50 inmates were able to transfer over $1,000, and one person managed to get away with nearly $10,000. However, the money stolen was NOT taxpayer money.
“This conduct was intentional, not accidental. It required a knowledge of the JPay system and multiple actions by every inmate who exploited the system’s vulnerability to improperly credit their account,” Ray told the Associated Press in a statement.
According to Wired, JPay is one of the sole providers of tablets which are made specifically for prisons. It can cost inmates $0.47 to send an email, and up to $3.50 to download music. The outrageous fees combined with the low wages paid in prison may have contributed to the inmate’s motivation for hacking the JPay system.
So far, only, $65,000 credits have been recovered, meanwhile, the inmates are restricted to email access only until all of the credits are recovered.
Hollywood calling? Maybe another Ocean’s 11 or Escape Plan movie. Could we see this in some comedy action movie in the near future?
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