In a major security breach that caught the attention of the FBI, New Hampshire inmates gained entry to the Corrections Information System (CORIS) and may have had access to personal information and the ability to amend sentencing, parole and release dates.
That's according to Mark Jordan, a former union president for prison guards in his area who also told The Union Leader that inmates using the computers are minimally supervised by just one guard and a civilian.
According to the Associated Press, the breach was discovered last week (Aug. 24) when a prison staffer saw a cable connecting an inmate computer to that of a staff member's. Inmates are not allowed to use computers at this time, and it's unclear exactly when inmates accessed CORIS.
Why inmates had anything close to access to a staff terminal is anyone's guess. Prison spokesman Jeffrey Lyons told the AP that the computers are used by about 24 inmates on a closed network for tracking and billing work done in prison. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections did not respond to SND questions at the time of this writing.
It's still unclear whether any records were stolen or tampered with.
The system, which "connects relevant stakeholders through a single electronic offender record and centralized database" and allows officers to make "more informed decisions related to treatment and security," was installed in 2008.
When asked why it took so long to announce the security breach Lyons said, "We were trying to determine how deeply this went before we put out any information."
