Syrian rebels free prisoners from the Red Prison in Sednaya [video]

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4 pointsinglor_cz3 comments

Even though the video is obviously politics-related, there is an interesting tech aspect at work.

Allegedly, the rebels couldn't break into the subterranean part of the prison for a long time, because the guards have fled and didn't open the doors.

The doors were kept shut by an electronic system and no one knew how to bypass it.

In this case, "bruteforcing access" is quite literally what happened.

A real-world cryptographic incident, so to say.

...Most prisons shouldn't be a major issue once you get rid of the operators. After all, basic tools built them. Basic tools can unbuild them. It's half the reason so much of prison operation is focused around depriving inmates access to any basic tools, or the time/privacy to fabricate their own.

Depends on what you consider "major issue". If you have living people underground and a massive steel door that is the only entrance, the situation is tricky. You cannot use too many explosives, because the building could collapse on you and them. Neither you want to create some massive shockwave inside.

But at the same time, you don't want to spend days slowly disassembling the system. They are hungry and possibly thirsty down there.

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