The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders and Deceivers

Chapter 3

The Texas Prison Hack

I don’t think there’s any one thing you can say to a youngster to make them change, other than to have value in themselves, you know, and never take the short road.

— William

 

 

Two young convicts, each doing extended time for murder, meet on a blazing day in the concrete yard of a Texas prison and discover they share a fascination with computers. They team up and become secret hackers right under the noses of watchful guards.

All that is in the past. These days, William Butler gets into his car at 5:30 every weekday morning and begins the commute to work through clogged Houston traffic. He considers himself a very lucky man even to be alive. He’s got a steady girlfriend; he drives a shiny new car. And, he adds, “I was recently rewarded with a $7,000 raise. Not bad.”

Like William, his friend Danny is also settled in life and holding down a steady job doing computer work. But neither will ever forget the long, slow years paying a hard price for their actions. Strangely, the time in prison equipped them with the skills they’re now making such good use of in “the free world.”

Inside: Discovering Computers

Prison is a shock to the newcomer. Arriving inmates are often dumped together until the unruly and violent can be sorted out — a severe challenge to those trying to live by the rules. Surrounded by people who might explode at any imagined challenge, even the meek have to hang tough and stand up for themselves. William devised his own set of rules: ...