The Lottery Hack: Security Director rigged the lottery using a rootkit to win millions of dollars
Eddie Tipton, former security director for Multi-State Lottery Association in Iowa not too long ago was accused of using a rootkit to manipulate and extract the winning lottery numbers in order to rig a nearly $17 million jackpot.
According to the fresh development on the case, Tipton’s hacking activities will now be expanded to include a number of other states. Until now, lottery officials from Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma have indicated that Tipton may have also gamed lottery jackpots in their respective states.
While working as a security director for Multi-State Lottery Association since 2003, Tipton allegedly installed a rootkit onto his company’s computer system that influenced the manner in which ‘random’ numbers were generated. As a result, Tipton was able to compute and gain access to winning lotto numbers before they were made public. With the numbers in hand, Tipton would disclose the winning numbers to friends who would then purchase “winning” lotto tickets and then collect on big paydays, claim the authorities.
The range of the investigation is poised to expand significantly, as the current investigation into Tipton’s misconduct now contains hacking activities across four different states, as the organization’s computers were used to generate winning numbers in as many as 37 different states. $8 million dollars has been paid out over the period of six years.
“It would be pretty naive to believe they are the only four [jackpots involved]” Iowa deputy attorney general Thomas H. Miller said. “If you find one cockroach, you have to assume there are 100 more you haven’t found.”
In 2012, a New York lawyer attempted to claim a $16.5 million jackpot anonymously but withdrew his claim verses revealing the winner. Surveillance video of the winning ticket purchaser was circulated to the media to help find the winner and Tipton’s co-workers. His peers positively identified him as the mysterious owner of the winning ticket. That event is what tipped off authorities in Iowa and his big mistake.
Tipton was sentenced to 10 years in prison based on his criminal and downright fatuous attempt to scam the Iowa lottery system. However, pending an appeal of that conviction, he is currently out on bail.
