Eighth-grade hackers pilfer science class exam

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://web.lexis-nexis.com/more/cahners-chicago/11407/6664045/2

By: LINDA GIBSON
St. Petersburg Times
December 14, 2000

TAMPA - Two eighth-grade honor students at a magnet middle school
hacked into their science teacher's computer recently and thought they
hit the jackpot.

They found the semester's final exam in physical science, with all
those questions about chemistry. With a few more keystrokes, it went
out over the Internet to an unknown number of fellow students at
Booker T. Washington Middle School.

Instead of acing the exam, the two students were suspended.

Cheating is nothing new among students. But Andi Ringer,
Hillsborough's supervisor of middle school science education, said
this is the first she has heard of it being accomplished by hacking.

"I guess this is a new glitch," she said.

John Hilderbrand, director of testing for the school district, said he
thinks the break-in occurred last week. He heard about it Monday and
expects to finish his investigation by Friday.

"We think only two students broke into (the computer) and according to
the students they gave it to only one or two kids," said Hilderbrand.
He would not identify the students.

But four or five parents have called the school about it, he said, so
he suspects the test got out to more than one or two students. "Now
we're hearing the whole state of Florida got it," he joked.

Ringer and Hilderbrand said the test should not have been put on the
computer. "There's too many ways of getting a copy of it," Hilderbrand
said.

Students could have seen the teacher's password, he said. Or they
could have gotten an administrative password that overrides the
teacher's. The teacher was not identified.

District policy is to keep tests secure. But how to do that with
computers hasn't been spelled out to the district's 15,000 teachers.

"We need to have a common understanding of what the word "secure'
means," said Hilderbrand. "It's never been written down."

The incident has prompted discussions about the need for a
districtwide policy, he said.

Meanwhile, the honors science teacher at Booker T. Washington is
preparing a new exam. Nobody will get to take the old one.

About 600 students from all over the county attend Washington, chosen
by lottery. The school focuses on international studies, foreign
languages and technology.

The two students were suspended from Washington for the rest of the
semester, said David DeRuzzo, the school's assistant principal. They
will attend classes at an alternative school for students who have
been kicked out of their own school.

Florida law makes unauthorized access to a computer system a
third-degree felony. But DeRuzzo said school administrators thought
they could handle the matter without calling police.



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