By Chris Welch
The Verge
SOUTH LONDON — Nicholas Webber’s rap sheet should have instantly disqualified him from joining an IT class at HMP Isis prison in South London.
Yet somehow Webber, whose GhostMarket online forum was a haven to hackers, virus assemblers, and identity thieves, managed to join the course without a problem.
The 21-year-old is currently serving out a five-year sentence after authorities caught him using stolen information to make extravagant purchases. As the leading figure behind GhostMarket, you’d think prison employees would be fully aware of Webber’s reputation and the damage he could do with a keyboard.
Apparently that wasn’t the case: Michael Fox, who tutored the IT class in question, says he had no clue about Webber’s history. His ignorance proved costly, with Webber eventually hacking his way into the jail’s computer network.
Full story: Notorious UK cyber criminal allowed into prison IT class, predictably causes chaos