Technology

59598 readers

4162 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

134

After default password disclosed online, 1200 inmates have prison issued laptops seized by guards, threatening their ability to make class deadlines (www.opencampusmedia.org)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

41 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Zhang, an electrical engineer in Boston, decided to post about trying to unlock his Justice Tech Solutions Securebook 5 on the social platform X. The thread went viral — also catching the attention of Washington corrections officials, who have used the device for college programming since 2020.

Of particular concern was an article about Zhang’s thread published on a hacker website that shared the default password for the underlying software that starts the laptop’s operating system, presenting what the Department of Corrections considered a security concern.

The department then announced Thursday, five days after Zhang’s viral post, that it would collect all secure laptops from incarcerated students statewide “to provide an immediate system update.” By Saturday, corrections staff had collected around 1,200 laptops, spokesperson Chris Wright said in an email.

Wright confirmed no one incarcerated in Washington prisons had attempted to unlock their devices but said the decision was “made out of an abundance of caution.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether other states whose corrections departments use Securebook 5 laptops have also pulled the devices.

Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/LS3co

e; updated the title due to popular demand

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There was no security breach. Did you even read the summary, let alone the article? There wasn't even an attempted breach.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There is a breach as he released the default password, but no one attempted to breach it, as in no one tried to use the default password on their computer. Did you even try to understand what you read?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

It's a vulnerability, not a breach. As you pointed out, no one attempted to breach it.