Inmate secretly hacked jail TV system to watch porn in prison

The prisoner was also able to send secret messages to other inmates

The security breach took place at Norway's Halden Prison (Trond Isaksen/REX)

An inmate at a Norwegian prison has been caught hacking the jail’s prison system so he could watch pornography.

The hack enabled him to secretly watch and share pornographic films, and send private messages to fellow prisoners at Halden prison.

The Local Norway reports Jan StrØmnes, a prison officer, said the hack was uncovered after prison authorities noticed a suspicious spike in online data traffic on their system as well as unexplained errors with TV sets.

He said: “We reacted when we noticed unusually high data traffic and that inmates were having more than normal trouble with their TVs. In addition, we found a handwritten note with a log-in on an inmate during a search.”

He said officials have now changed the TV system to avoid a repeat of the incident: “We have gone through the TV system with these security concerns in mind and built it up again. Today, inmates only have regular TV.”

The high-security prison provides inmates with flat-screen TVs, mini-fridges and ensuites, as part of Norway’s approach to detention which focuses on reforming prisoners rather than punishing them.