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Lafayette suspends four for computer hacking spree
From: William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 23:40:48 -0600
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/110300/localdocs/03hacking.htm By Linda B. Blackford HERALD-LEADER EDUCATION WRITER Published Friday, November 3, 2000, in the Herald-Leader Four computer-savvy Lafayette High School students had a fine time last week they hacked into the school's computer system and shut down computers one by one until the entire network went down. Three different times. But this week, home is where the hacking is, as the four boys finish 10-day suspensions from school. Two of the 10th-graders may face expulsion because they hacked into some teacher workstations, which contain grades and other confidential information. Principal Mike McKenzie says some parents think he's overreacting with the punishments, but McKenzie thinks students have to know that school is a hack-free zone. ``This is serious; it's zero tolerance,'' he said. ``You cannot go into school computers.'' The school's technology department was able to track the students down through the network. The students were not identified because of student confidentiality laws. McKenzie said the four students hacked into the system and got hold of what's known as the IP addresses, or numeric identifiers, of all the school's computers. With those numbers, they could shut down different computers. Whatever students or teachers were working on when the computers went down was lost. McKenzie said none of the boys had a good reason for the pranks, aside from wanting a little computer fun. They didn't go so far as to access teacher files or change grades. ``If I had thought that there was ill intent, we would have filed criminal charges,'' he said. It's not clear yet whether the school board will uphold the expulsions. But all Fayette County students are required to sign an ``Acceptable Use Policy,'' which forbids system hacking and other abuses. David Couch, the state's technology chief, says that breaking into any government computer system without permission is a criminal offense. ``People used to think it was funny when kids hacked into a system, but now it's much more serious because so much of a school's organization is done through a computer,'' he said. He thinks it's important for schools to send a strong message to students, as well as letting them know how easy it is to track perpetrators through a network. Schools are aided by the state's Internet filter system, which not only blocks inappropriate sites, but also allows schools to see exactly where students landed in cyberspace. Computer break-ins are a new educational danger in an age when children often know a lot more about computers than their parents or teachers do. In many schools, for example, students serve as technical assistants to program and fix computers. ``We do have kids who help us, and we do have a lot of safeguards in place,'' McKenzie said. ``The thing that concerns me is a lot of kids will not do inappropriate things, but when it comes to computers there's a certain amount of anonymity, so they feel as though it's not wrong.'' *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".
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- Lafayette suspends four for computer hacking spree William Knowles (Nov 06)